


Dad Might!

by Annabell22



Series: Dad Might! [1]
Category: BnHA, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: AU, Other, Parental Yagi Toshinori | All Might
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2018-12-26 08:30:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12055182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annabell22/pseuds/Annabell22
Summary: AU where All Might is Izuku's father, but Izuku was still born quirkless. After All Might's accident Izuku must be trained to receive One For All, but this time he gets a bit of a head start. He begins his training at a much younger age. The timeline will jump quite a bit, but it is the same story line and AU. Everything will go in chronological order, though.





	1. Quirkless

Izuku had been crying all day after coming home from the doctor. He was Quirkless. It was his worst nightmare. All the child wanted to do was grow up and be like his hero, he wanted to be just like All Might. He wasn’t sure how he was going to accomplish that without a quirk.

Inko tried to reassure him he could still become a great hero one day because he still had the heart of one. That had always been something he was told. His father had told him on many accounts that he had a heart capable of becoming a fantastic hero. He had something that couldn’t be taught, and once accompanied by an amazing quirk he would be the best hero one day. He was told me may grow up to be better than All Might. But he didn’t know how he was going to do that now.

Home depressed the child, All Might merchandise was everywhere. All seeing the hero did was remind the boy of how quirkless he was and how he was never going to achieve his dreams. Instead of putting the news on as he usually did the boy laid on the couch, not wanting to do anything. All of his usual hobbies revolved around heroes.

Time passed slowly for Izuku as he lied still, a couple tears would occasionally fall from the sniffling child’s face. He didn’t want to be bothered. Inko tried to give the child food but he rejected it, asking to be left alone. She felt terrible, how could she nor his father pass on their quirks to a child who so desperately wanted one? How was it fair that he was in the 20% of children without amazing power?

The front door of their house flew open, a large figure appeared in their doorway, announcing his presence, “I’m home!” All Might stood in the doorway, a smile spread on his face. It didn’t last, he soon grew confused. Usually he was greeted by an overly excited child. “Hello?”

Inko comes in, greeting her husband and taking him into the kitchen, hoping they were out of earshot of Izuku. They weren’t however, the boy could hear everything his parents were saying.

“What’s wrong with the boy?” Toshinori asks.

“Well you know how we went to the doctor’s today?” Inko asks, getting a nod from the man. “Well, the doctor said that… well… Izuku’s quirkless. He isn’t-”

“Quirkless‽” Toshinori yells, his fist slamming onto the table. The house shook and Izuku shivered. He’d never seen his father angry like this before. “That damned doctor doesn’t know what he’s talking about. My son? Quirkless?” Izuku turns to face the kitchen, trying to peek around the corners of the couch without being caught. He remained trembling, seeing how him being quirkless seemingly made his father angry.

“Toshinori,” Inko firmly says, “You were quirkless as a child.” This was true, before being passed One For All by his mentor Tosinori was also quirkless. Though the possibility of Izuku also not having a quirk never crossed his mind. Even when he was growing older and showed no signs of having a quirk, the man assumed it was taking a long time to manifest. He assumed a great quirk was going to come from the boy, perhaps even one for all.

Nana Shimura told him that wasn’t how the power worked, but he never believed her. He had wished One For All onto Izuku, he had his D.N.A. Even knowing his old mentor had a child, but made sure he was separate from the hero lifestyle she lived. Toshinori, however, still wished to believe because he wished the power onto his son he would have received it. Though, he could always receive the power the way he and all the others before him did.

“Yes but, One For All-”

“He is a child,” Inko argues, “and much too young for One For All.” The woman extends her arm to the livingroom as Izuku ducks behind the back of the couch. “He isn’t ready to bare that kind of power.”

“One For All could be what he needs!” the man argues. “He could learn to wield it at this age by the time he is old enough to attend Yuuei!” Yuuei, his Alma Mater, was the best hero school in all of Japan. All of the best heroes came from Japan, every hero sent their children there, anyone who had any kinds of hopes of making it as a hero applied. There were special cases, however, of children of the best who got in just off recommendation.

“Izuku too young,” Inko restated, hands moving to her hips. “I remember stories you would tell me when you were trying to master One For All, almost twice his age. You got hurt all the time.” The backlash of using the power of One For All was almost deadly if you weren’t ready to receive the power. Training was intense to even be considered to gain the power, especially to a quirkless child like Toshinori was.

Izuku listens intently, the term One For All wasn’t something his parents used around him, he was unsure what that even meant. And what did “trying to master” mean? Too young for what?

“Well a little training could fix that.” Sighing Inko shook her head.

“He’s upset enough as it is,” she huffed. “Just go be supportive.”

Izuku lies back on the couch, hearing his father enter the room. It was silent, Toshinori sat next to the child, playing with his hands. It was an awkward silence, he wasn’t sure what to say to his son. What could he say to cheer him up? Probably nothing Inko hadn’t tried herself.

“So, Son,” Toshinori attempts to speak but couldn’t find the right words. He was angry as well, but he couldn’t imagine the anger and sadness Izuku was feeling. “Quirks aren’t… well… just because someone has an amazing quirk, doesn’t mean they’ll be an amazing hero. And just because someone doesn’t have an amazing quirk doesn’t mean that can’t be a hero.”

Sitting up Izuku looks up at his father, his lips curled in a pout, “Of course you’d say that. Your quirk is the best one there is.” He folds his arms, tears swelling up in his eyes again. Toshinori wanted to tell his son about One For All. He wanted to tell him how he could still be a great hero and not doubt himself, how he once felt the same way. But Inko was right, he was much too young to learn about the power.

“I used to be quirkless too. Did you know that? My quirk took until I was around thirteen or so before I could use it. I was so scared, no one thought I was going to get one,” Toshinori says, watching a small smile creep onto Izuku’s face. “You still might get a quirk, with a heart like yours I’m sure of it.”

“Now you have the best quirk,” the child beams.

“That’s right,” Toshinori says, transforming into All Might. “Don’t lose hope!” Izuku’s smile grows wide as he laughs, jumping onto the lap of his father. The Form of All Might always made him happy. Even if he was his father, All Might was still his favorite hero. The best part was his hero, and everyone else’s, was his dad.


	2. The Risks of being a hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku's view on the day All for One conquered One for All

In the Yagi household the news was almost always on, even at the age of eight it was all Izuku watched. This was mostly because all the news seemed to cover was Pro Heroes these days. All seemed normal, All Might was fighting a villain. He always seemed to be fighting some sort of villain, it’s what came with being the number one hero. The villain seemed especially tough though, no one Izuku had ever seen. Sat on the floor in front of the television in his favorite All Might onesie, he cheered on his favorite hero. From all of the years he had watched All Might this seemed to be the toughest villain he had ever faced. He’d never seen him struggle this much. Though as he always was, the hero was still smiling. As the Symbol of Peace he always had to, All Might is what calmed the public’s mind. As long as he was still smiling everything was going to be a-okay.

“Dad is so cool!” Izuku exclaimed, clenching his All Might action figure tight in his hand. The child mimics the punches All Might is doing on the television. He had never seen All Might so serious, it gave the quirkless child hope of becoming a hero. Giving this fight everything he had All Might showed more power than Izuku had ever seen. Every channel was covering this fight, all of Tokyo was watching. Inko stopped doing housework to join her son in watching the fight as it quickly became more serious. She calls her son to sit on the couch, together they cheered on their hero. Seeing the worry grow on his mother’s face Izuku was confused, but was excited to watch All Might in action.

The camera man tries his best to follow the action as the reporter tried to describe what was happening. All Might was obviously giving this his all. This new opponent was tough. They were equally, or more powerful than All Might one could argue. A true match for the number one hero. The streets had devolved into madness, reporters yelling in attempts to have their audiences hear them.

Everyone was cheering on their Symbol of Peace. He had protected Tokyo for years, he was the number one hero, and greatly defended that title. This fight proved he earned it. Police kept people at a safe distance as Pro Heroes attended to people in the streets letting All Might take care of this villain, truly the number one hero could handle this by himself. That’s what everyone thought.

“As you can see folks, the streets are crowded, people trying to get a good look at this fight,” a reporter states, people cheering All Might around him, some silent and awestruck. Everyone who was screaming All Might’s name gave encouragements, trying to help the hero. The smile plastered on his face, even in a fight like this, made everyone cheer louder in excitement. This was the fight of the century. Although one punch made everything go silent.

“Izuku don’t look!” Inko yells, quickly putting her hands over the child’s eyes in attempt to shield his view of the television. However, she wasn’t fast enough. The boy still saw. All Might stood for a few seconds, the punch had created a hole through his abdomen. Blood splattered everywhere, the villain watches as All Might falls. They laugh as All Might slowly realizes the agony he is in as the value of shock wears off. Izuku tries to get a look at the screen, but Inko wouldn’t let him. Everything seemed silent for a long time, with only the feint laugh of the villain before other Pro Heroes like Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Mt Lady and others arrived to cover for their fallen friend and colleague. Doctors rushed in to save their hero, ambulances arriving on the scene. Getting one final look at the defeated All Might the unknown villain vanishes.

“We are not quite sure of the condition of our hero,” the reporter frantically states, trying to break the silence. “But our Symbol of Peace will be brought to the best Hospital in Japan. What does this mean for our heroes? For Japan? For the world? That villain may not have escaped unharmed, but he escaped nonetheless…” The reporter kept talking but neither Inko nor Izuku were paying attention as to what was being said at this point. Inko wrapped her son in a tight embrace, holding him as he began to cry. He was worried about his hero, his father. The boy wept, scared about what was going to happen.

“Your father is strong,” Inko tries soothing Izuku, though she herself was unsure what was going to happen. She ran her fingers down his back, slowly and softly in attempt to comfort him. The two sat hugging for a while, unsure of what to do, unsure of what to think. Silence spread throughout their house, only interrupted by small sniffles from Izuku.

Neither of them knew what to do, this has always been a possibility, being the number one hero in Japan came with its risks, sure. Though neither of them thought anything like this was going to happen. It was so gory, there was so much blood. The image kept replaying in the child’s mind. All Might, his father, falling to the ground the way he did. It’s all the child saw as he kept his eyes shut, he was terrified. All he could do was hope people were taking care of his father. All Izuku could do is hope that he was going to be alright. Surely nothing could hurt the Symbol of Peace, right?

The phone rang, causing Izuku to jump a little, looking in the direction of the noise. He gives a pitiful look to his mother, not wanting to let go of her. Inko simply gives the young child a smile and separates from him, reassuring him he was going to be okay. She gives a small wave from the phone before picking it up, already knowing All Might was going to be the subject of this call.

“Ah Mr. Tsukauchi,” Inko says, seeming relieved, it seemed to be a voice she was happy to hear. Izuku couldn’t hear what the man on the other end of the hone was saying, but his mother seemed to listen intensely. Quietly the child got off the couch, following his mother, not wanting to be left alone. He couldn’t tell what she was feeling. He noticed tears forming in his mother’s eyes, but they didn’t seem like sad tears. Though Izuku could tell she was just as worried as he was.

“What is the man saying?” Izuku asks worriedly, tugging on his mother’s skirt. The woman looks down, smiling for her son in attempt to ease his worrying while trying to listen to the man on the phone. After a lot of “uh-huh”s and “thank you”s from Inko she hangs up the phone, looking down to Izuku.

What could she tell the child that wouldn’t scare him more than he already was? He had seen so much for such a young age, he had been exposed to something that would scar him for life. The image of his father falling to the ground, truly she couldn’t tell him everything she had just been told about his critical condition. She didn’t want to lie to him either.

“Go get properly dressed,” she says, “your father is in the hospital. He is going to be okay. He is in surgeries, but by the time we get there you should be able to see him. B-but he’ll be very fragile, okay? So you’ll have to be very quiet and careful.” She thought about every word before saying it, but she assumed what she said was okay. For the boy’s face lit up as he went to dress to see Toshinori. The boy came back in a collared white button up shirt and black pants.  

Inko took the child by the hand to the train station, trying to be discreet about where they were going. No one but close friends of the Pro Hero knew he had a family. All Might didn’t want enemies getting a hold of their location, or know who little Izuku was. When asked about his father Izuku was told to say he was simply a Pro Hero in Tokyo, and he didn’t get to see him too much. Which wasn’t untrue. With all of the hero work All Might did Toshinori was out of the house a lot.

The train ride was silent, Izuku clung to his mother, thinking about his father. He thought about what he would do if he lost his father. People all over the train were talking about All Might, how he had been taken down. This made the child covers his ears, he didn’t want to hear talk of how the Symbol of Peace had fallen. Talk of the Symbol of Peace being dead. He kept silent, sniffling back tears. Around him people assumed the child was sad about his hero, and they were right. Though Izuku didn’t just have to fear about losing his Hero, he had to worry about losing his father as well.

When at their stop Inko took Izuku by the hand as they walked through crowds of people, All Might’s face plastered throughout the city. It didn’t take long for this to make the news. Everyone was talking about it, it spread throughout the world. People speculated if he was dead or if he was going to retire if he wasn’t. People were practically already mourning the hero in the streets.

“Don’t look, don’t give them any mind,” Inko says to Izuku, “We’ll be there soon.” The child listens, trying to ignore the world around him. He kept his eyes to the ground, hand holding on firmly to his mother’s. He trembled as they got closer to the hospital, not sure about what his father was going to look like.

 Getting even closer to the hospital the boy began to shiver and shake, doubt clouding his mind. What if when they got there the hero was dead? Or if he would only have a short amount of time to live? He wanted to cry, he wanted his father. All Might’s face was on all of the screens in the streets. But the face they displayed wasn’t his usual happy one, it was the clip of the villain punching a hole through the Pro Hero’s abdomen. The rest of the walk he promised himself he wouldn’t look up and would trust wherever his mother was taking him.

Even looking away from everything this continued to replay in the child’s mind. The image of All Might standing with a hole through his abdomen. He remembered the blood that poured from him, the look of pain the hero had on his face. The sound of agony. Izuku wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle seeing his father like that, but he wanted to see him. It would put any worry about him dying he had to rest. And he needed to be sure.

Walking into the hospital a tall man in a large coat was waiting for them. Inko hugged him close, tears flowing down her face. He said some things quietly that Izuku couldn’t make out. Adult stuff. Nodding Inko looks to her son and back at the man Izuku wasn’t familiar with. He recognized him, a friend of his father’s, but he couldn’t remember the name. At a time like this who could blame him?

“Izuku,” finally addressing Izuku, the man kneels down the child’s height, a smile on his face. “I’m Naomasa Tsukauchi, you probably don’t remember me but I’m a friend of your father’s.” Not truly remembering Izuku just nods at the man.

“Can we see him?” asks Izuku.

“Of course you can,” answers Naomasa, “Just try not to draw attention to yourself. Not many people know your father is here, you must understand why.” Again the child nods. Smiling for Izuku Naomasa takes him and his mother to Toshinori’s room. It was in a separate wing of the hospital, very secluded and hard to get into. They had to pass several security checks to get to see the hero. Izuku assumed this wing was for pro heroes. The wing was very small, but covered in guards with special doors. No one unwanted was going to get passed security easily. While the security guarding this wing weren’t A-List heroes, they were still tough enough to put up a fight against anyone unworthy of trying to get through.

People who didn’t know All Might had family watched as Inko and Izuku made their way past countless guards with Naomasa confused. Security saw a woman and child with clearance, Naomasa not giving them a proper reason why other than they knew All Might, just as he did.

Reaching All Might’s room Izuku gets warned on the state of his father one final time. Inko places her hands on his shoulders, firmly gripping them. To reassure the child everything was going to be okay. Opening the door Izuku saw Toshinori hooked up to countless machines, wrapped in bandages and casts on his dominant side. His torso was covered in bandages. Lying in bed he slowly turns his head to the sound of the door opening.

Tears reform in Izuku’s eyes as he sees his father. A smile spread on his face, finally seeing that Toshinori was alive. He didn’t pay attention to the condition he was in, all Izuku cared about was that he was alive. No more did he have to worry if he had died, any suspicions could be put to rest. He runs up to a chair next to Toshinori, sitting in it. Tears started to one by one flow down his cheeks, but he remained smiling.

Toshinori smiles, giving a pained chuckle, “I’m happy to see you too.” Izuku didn’t need to say anything, Toshinori already knew. A small television was in the corner of the room. It was on and he had no way to change it. Even if he did every channel was covering the after math of what had happened. He knew what Izuku had seen before coming to see him, how worried he must have been. How relieved he must be to see Toshinori alive. He glances behind the child to see Inko, hands over her face as she also had tears running down her face. She stayed back, though, allowing Izuku to see his father.

“Everyone thinks-”

“Let them think,” Toshinori interrupts Izuku, “It takes more than that to truly hurt the Symbol of Peace.” This makes Izuku chuckle, but the tears didn’t stop. The boy was a bit of a cry baby, he always had been. Toshinori uses a hand to wipe tears off his son’s face, still giving him a smile. Seeing his son this worried over him made him feel so guilty, but he couldn’t let Izuku see him like that. It was a habit to smile whenever someone needed one.

“I’m sorry I made you worry,” he says, looking his son in the eyes. “It isn’t fair to you. You shouldn’t have to worry like that.” The boy shakes his head, giving his father a smile in return. In all of his years All Might had only seen one other smile like that other than in himself, but in his old mentor. A smile that shows it was going to be okay. A smile that resembled Nana Shimura’s.

“You were being a hero,” Izuku says smiling.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking with the story so far! I love the dynamic of Izuku and All Might in these A.Us. The next chapter is going to be short, just a warning. So it'll be up faster


	3. A Successor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshinori talks to Gran Torino about the pressing matter of his next successor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went up so fast because it's short! Here's your second warning!

“What am I going to do?” Toshinori asks groaning. “Inko doesn’t want me giving One For All to Izuku.” The man sat with his old teacher, Gran Torino. The man was old in age, but still enjoyed seeing his old student and old friend’s successor. He had been able to visit more often now that Toshinori’s time as All Might was very limited due to his injuries.

The man had come through his surgeries on top, and once announced he was still going to perform hero work villainy went down, in fear of the man who was able to survive those injuries. Other Pro Heroes stated they’d help their comrade as much as they could, but All Might now more than ever was the Symbol Of Peace. He came back against all odds. Now in the eye of the public he was invincible. Though they had no idea how little time he had left and how his power would vanish if it isn’t taken care of.

“Just spit in the kid’s drink while he’s not looking,” the older man chuckled, sipping his tea. Before All Might could get any ideas Gran Torino dismisses the idea as a joke, directly telling him how bad of an idea it was.

“Inko would kill me,” Toshinori chuckled awkwardly, though still kept thinking about it. “I don’t have anyone to mentor. I don’t have time to look for a kid, what am I going to do? I’m always saving someone with the little time I have left in the form of All Might. I just always assumed Izuku would be my successor as the carrier for One For All.”

“He still can be, Toshi,” Gran Torino says, “Just not while he is this young, I agree with your wife. You can’t give that kind of power to a child. His body has to be able to withstand the quirk first and no offense, he’s kind of-”

“I know,” Toshinori sighed interrupting the older man, “He deserves it. You’ve seen him. He wants to be a hero so badly. And he wants to be a hero for all the right reasons. He genuinely wants to help people. He…” Toshinori trails off, sighing. He looks to the floor, frustrated. This wouldn’t be as pressing of an issue if he hadn’t gotten hurt so badly. The older hero puts a hand on his student’s shoulder, giving him a weak smile.

“He’s going to make a great barer of One For All one day,” Gran Torino states, “You couldn’t pick a better kid for the job if you tried. He’s just like you.”

“Well that’s good-”

“Impulsive,” the older hero interrupts chuckling. “And if the kid is anything like you that isn’t something that is going to change.”

“Not exactly reassuring,” Toshinori huffed. He knew the man was right, though.

“Whatever the case may be,” Gran Torino says, “perhaps it’s time you start to train the boy to receive the power. The earlier you start the easier it will be once he receives One For All.” That was an interesting idea. Training Izuku at this young of an age would surely set him up to accomplish remarkable things. Wielding one for all wasn’t too much unlike basic combat training, just restraint with using it at first, which could be taught once he actually got the power.

“I’m not too sure I’d be the best teacher,” Toshinori states. “I mean, I’ve taught simple courses to kids on self-defense before as a guest at Yuuei. But that’s different.”

“It’d be a simple workout regiment,” Gran Torino retaliates, but seeing the doubt in Toshinori’s face he sighs. “I suppose I could help out too. What about Nighteye? He’d be grand help in teaching the boy how to foresee attacks and make strategies.”

Nighteye, the pro hero’s old sidekick. He’d be in the background as All Might fought in the front lines. Nighteye was the brains behind All Might, telling him what to do, what the enemy was about to do. After All Might had been injured with the fight against All For One the two hadn’t been on the best terms. Nighteye encouraged the hero to retire, but he wanted no part in doing so. So they had broken up and had not talked to one another since. It had been almost half a year since they had talked.

The man was so angry, insisting All Might stopped being a hero. He had even used his foresight to show him how his stubbornness would lead him to his demise. And Nighteye’s foresight had never been wrong. This was a large fight, one in which Gran Torino was there for. One Tohsinori wasn’t sure could be fixed.

“I’m not so sure,” Toshinori sighed. “You saw how angry he was when I told him I was going to continue being a hero.”

“We all were,” Gran Torino admits, taking a sip of his tea. “But here you are, proving his foresight isn’t always correct. I think he’d be happy to hear you’ve chosen Izuku to be your successor, that you’re taking the future into account. He’ll think you’re listening to him, which you are. This isn’t just about you, Toshinori. This is about One For All, for the Symbol of Peace to live on. You two cannot stay mad at each other forever.”

Toshinori inhales deeply, considering the matter. While not for himself he took into account this was for Izuku. This would be the best for the successor of One For All. Gran Torino was right, Nighteye on the day they separated insisted he began his search for the next successor for One For All instead of continuing to be a hero since Izuku was Quirkless. But perhaps the man would help train his son regardless.

“I suppose it is worth looking into,” Toshinori says, “Thank you for the help, Sir. I appreciate it and I’m sure Izuku will too.” The older hero laughs.

“That kid will be a great successor, Toshi,” Gran Torino chuckled. “With a little training, he will be a fantastic Symbol of Peace.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No worries the next chapter is much longer. :) Thanks for sticking with the story! I appreciate all of you reading, leaving comments, kudos, and everything else! Thanks everyone!


	4. Rivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izuku starts being trained to one day inherit One For All.

Today Toshinori would start to train Izuku to receive One For All. Not Inko nor Izuku knew what his training was actually for. Toshinori told the two he would train Izuku for self-defense. His wife did not object, lately he had been coming home with cuts and bruises from his ‘friend’ Katsuki Bakugou. Izuku had insisted the two were friends, but Toshinori and Inko weren’t so sure. It seemed like this boy was using his quirk to bully Izuku. Because of this Inko agreed with Toshinori about training the child, for self-defense purposes of course.

Both Gran Torino and All Might were able to have a discussion with Toshinori’s old friend. At first Sir Nighteye was against the idea of passing the quirk One For All onto the quirkless child. Though the boy’s spirit and smile convinced the man otherwise. He had met Izuku on many different occasions and agreed, he would be a wonderful Symbol of Peace with that spirit. Just like his father all he wanted to do was help people.

While training Izuku both Toshinori and Nighteye put aside their differences to focus on the boy. Both of them agreed to not bring up One For All or All Might’s hero work, given the two didn’t agree on the subject for the sake of Izuku. While things were still awkward between the two men, Toshinori was somewhat glad to have Nighteye in his life once again.

Gran Torino and Nighteye agreed to help train Izuku, both knowing Toshinori’s true intent. Both of the men agreed the boy should start training young, and by the time he attended Yuuei he’d have full control of One For All. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to use One For All in 100% of its power before attending the high school, but he would definitely be able to pass the entrance exam. His son was not going to get in based of recommendation. He knew Endevor’s boy was getting into the school that way, the pro hero bragged about it to All Might every chance he got. A successor that would someday take the spot of the number one hero. Not if Toshinori had anything to say about it.

After school Toshinori took the child off to a secluded beach where he could safely turn into and out of the All Might form without being seen. At the beach Gran Torino and Nighteye would be waiting for him. Izuku knew and was very fond of both men. He’d even come to call Gran Torino his Grandfather. At first the older man objected but the small child didn’t stop and he came to accept it. It made Toshinori laugh seeing his old teacher be so easily swayed by the young boy.

“Alright, Izuku!” Toshinori exclaimed as he transforms into All Might flexing. “Today you begin training so you can defend yourself and grow more powerful!”  Izuku’s face lit up, he was always impressed by his father’s All Might form. Especially after his injuries seeing his father continue to be All Might only impressed him more. Izuku jumps up and down in excitement, unaware of the hardships ahead.

“Now, Kid,” Gran Torino says, making Izuku stop jumping. “This isn’t going to be easy. It’s actually going to be very hard. But if you ever want to be a hero, this is a step you have to take.” The kid nods, forming fists with his hands. He was going to do whatever it took to be a hero. No matter how much harder he was going to have to work because he didn’t have a quirk, he knew it was going to be worth it in the end. He knew with these three men training him he was going to be the best hero someday, just like All Might.

“But trust us when we say if you work hard you’ll be rewarded with a new strength in the end,” Nighteye says with a small smile. It was almost enough to make himself laugh, referencing One for All as blantenly as he just had. All Might’s smile breaks for a moment as he looks to his old side kick, almost like he had made a bad pun. The smile quickly returns upon making eyecontact with the other man, the two chuckle slightly. Gran Torino huffs, looking down to Izuku.

“You want to be a hero don’t you?” Gran Torino asked.

“More than anything!” Izuku confirms. “Just like All Might! Just like you, Dad!” All Might beams.

“I had to work hard to get where I am today, now it is your turn, Izuku!” All Might exclaims while flexing. “Here you will be trained to be stronger! You will learn how to be a hero!”

“But for now we’ll be focused on defending yourself, being Quirkless can be tough, especially when dealing with bullies with strong quirks,” Nighteye chimes in. The boy still had a healing burn from his friend Katsuki Bakugou.

Izuku looks down to his arm, seeing what Nighteye was referencing to, “This was an accident-”

“Regardless!” All Might waves off the child’s protests. “Self-defense is still important! Together we will help you gain a power all your own! A power you will have earned through hard work.”

In front of the child sat stood the three seasoned heroes. Gran Torino, Nighteye and All Might. All of them were known for very different things, all things the child would have to master to correctly wield One For All. Gran Torino would test his speed, reflexes and stamina. Nighteye would teach the child different techniques against different quirks and fighting styles as well as how to foresee attacks. All Might of course was the one who would help Izuku gain strength, and teach him how to physically fight. All together these things would help the child be able to bear the burden brought on by One For All.

“Are you ready?” Gran Torino asks.

“Yes, Sir!” Izuku exclaims, all three heroes smile. Today he would begin the long journey of gaining and mastering One for All. Today he would begin his journey as All Might’s sucsessor.

Training was exhausting for Izuku, even with the heroes taking into account his age. They didn’t want to underestimate the child either. Though all three heroes could not be there every day the training schedule didn’t seem to change too much. Since he was still a child all three men could keep up with what the others had planned if they weren’t there. Though one might not be as good as the other, since Izuku was still just a kid, they could easily substitute for one another when need be.

As the training continued Izuku became healthier and stronger, appreciating heroes more than ever before.  Though lately what he valued most was his free time. Not that he didn’t enjoy learning to be a hero with the three pros, but he had felt overworked. He would never admit this to his heroes. Inko noticed a decrease in his energy while the child was home. Toshinori dismissed it as the training wearing him out and resting while he was home was a good idea. She was concerned as to why they were working the boy so hard just for self-defense. Though Inko trusted her husband.

While training was intensive Izuku enjoyed it, he enjoyed the time he was spending with all three heroes. Because of this training this was the most time he had ever spent with his father, with Gran Torino and Nighteye too. The other two heroes were practically family to the boy. They had been with him since he could remember. While their visits had never been frequent the two had been role models in his life regardless.

Even on days where Izuku felt like he couldn’t continue anymore, if he felt like he wasn’t going to make it through an exercise, the heroes cheered him on. They all wanted to see the boy succeed, and it filled him with determination. Nighteye would make him laugh if he ever got too down on himself, and Izuku always appreciated that. They were better than All Might’s Dad jokes for sure.

The three pros from time to time forgot Izuku was only a child, perhaps giving him a little too much every once in a while. Though any time they think they might have given him something a little too much he seemed to overcome it, or at least give it his all without being discouraged. Admiring Izuku’s tenacity the heroes continued giving Izuku harder things every day, the child begging for more. Even while exhausted some days, he always made sure to do things to the best of his ability. He wanted to get the most out of his training with the three pros.

All Might spared with the boy, making sure to hold back. He’d never truly land a punch but encouraged Izuku to hit him with everything he had. It took a while for the child to accept hitting his father, especially knowing about his injuries. That didn’t last, seeing how All Might didn’t seem to react at all to any of his punches. Not that this discouraged him, he knew All Might’s strength and was happy whenever he managed to get a single punch in.

“Come on my boy!” All Might encourages, standing tall. “Feel free to hit me with everything you have!” When sparing with his father all the child could remember was what he saw on television. He remembered the scar he had seen when no one thought anyone was looking.

“But-”

“Look at him, Izuku,” Nighteye says, trying to reassure the child. “You’re not going to hurt him.”

“Can you make sure?” the child asks, this was an odd request. Never once had Izuku asked Nighteye to use his foresight. This took even All Might by surprise. His son was worying about him this much. The boy had been through so much within the past year, and his worry was for his father. A part of All Might felt guilty for Izuku even thinking of this. How often was the boy worried for his health All Might wondered.

The request to use foresight had Nighteye hesitant, he considered lying to Izuku. Considering saying he looked into the future but didn’t crossed the man’s mind; but looking at the worry in his eyes he sighed, looking five minutes into the future for the boy’s sake.

“I can say with the upmost certianty you will not hurt your father,” Nighteye confirms. “But you’ll do great. Don’t let that go to your head either, young man. Your father’s got a big enough head as it is. You have to work hard, and if you don’t you’ll never reach the future I have seen.”

“Get on with it already,” an impatient Gran Torino groans.

Izuku approaches the 7 foot tall hero, gulping. While he knew All Might was going to hold back something about fighting him still made him very afraid. All Might was only going to be defensive, and he practically wasn’t going to touch the child. The most he would do is push him down.

Izuku lunges at his father, trying to duck as the man extended his arm to stop his son’s attempts to attack him. The child was using everything the three heroes had taught him. Nighteye noted how he was able to predict All Might’s movements since he was moving quite slowly. The speed he had worked on with Gran Torino was helping, he was much lighter on his feet. His form was a little sloppy, but considereing he was a child All Might would let this slide. He knew just how worried he was on top of it.

“Come on my boy!” All Might encourages, doging the child’s punches. “You better not be holding back on me now!” Upon those words Izuku punches his father in the leg, catching All Might somewhat off guard.

Izuku’s face lit up, he had done it. He landed a hit on his father. All Might looks down to his leg, smiling down at the child who barely made it above his waist. It wasn’t anything too strong, but considering the age he was doing magnificantly. It was enough for All Might to feel the punch, no pain, but he was able to tell his son hit him with everything he could muster.

“That was wonderful!” All Might exclaimed, picking the child up and setting him on his arm. “See how much better you have gotten?” All Might remembered how hard the training was for a late Middle School student, an elementary student working this hard was remarkable.

Izuku was clearly trying his hardest the heroes couldn’t have asked more from him if they tried. The improvement showed with each passing day. Gran Torino would joke that Izuku had more determination than Toshinori did during training. This would occasionally spark an argument or a story to Izuku about Toshinori training under him and his old master.

Toshinori and Gran Torino hardly talked about Toshinori’s old master. Whenever they spoke of her, however, they always said wonderful things. All Izuku knew was she was a kind and caring woman, always putting the wellbeing of others above her own. He understood that she taught All Might almost everything he knew, including his mentality of what it meant to be a hero, and why he smiled like he did.

That was something else the heroes were trying to reinforce while training Izuku, while doing his workouts they requested he kept a smile on his face if he was able. If he was going to be the next symbol of peace Izuku should get used to doing strenuous activities while still smiling. This was the one thing the boy seemed to struggle with, having to be reminded of this all the time. The smile seemed to be lost in thought, as he over thought everything he did. This wasn’t Nighteye’s fault, the child had naturally been like this prior to training which only made Nighteye’s job easier.

For now, however, that wasn’t of importance, all the heroes cared about was getting Izuku’s body to get ready to receive One For All. They wanted to make Izuku ready to receive the quirk a year before the Yuuei entrance exams so by the time he had to take them he would be ready to face whatever challenges the school threw at him; and so far the heroes appeared to be on track.

Taking notice of how tone he was becoming Izuku grew excited, seeing the pride in his father’s eyes as he grew stronger every day. He’d never seen him so proud before. It motivated Izuku to work even harder. If it meant making his father proud he was going to work as hard as he could.

Though others were noticing Izuku’s new strength. The children at school began to take notice. Katsuki Bakugou in particular began to take notice. He had always viewed himself as better than Izuku. He even called the child “Deku” or “one who can’t / won’t achieve anything”. Seeing Deku grow stronger infuriated the small child. He wondered why he was trying so hard. What in the world was he up to?

“Hey, Deku!” Bakugou yells, having Izuku turn around to face his rather explosive classmate.

“Kacchan-!”

“What have you been up to?” he exclaims, interrupting Izuku. “You’ve been getting bigger. Like you’re working out or something.”

“Well my dad’s been training me-”

“Your father?” Bakugou laughs. “That supposed Pro Hero you can’t even name?”

“Probably because he doesn’t exist,” one of Bakugou’s friends laughs, helping bully the small child.

“He is a pro hero!” Izuku argues.

“Then who is he?”

Izuku’s face turns a bright red, “Well… um… I’m not allowed to say who he is…”

“I bet he’s a deadbeat,” Bakugou laughs, sticking his tongue out at Izuku.

“No he isn’t! He is a great hero!” Izuku argued.

“Probably some awful hero that never made it. Because if he’s anything like you I bet he’s a total failure,” Bakugou says, smiling down at the quirkless boy.

“Take that back!” Izuku yells, face only growing redder as his hands clench by his sides. He wanted to brag about his father being All Might, but he had been warned about the risks. He had been told how much trouble he would be in if he ever told anyone his family’s secret, so he kept his mouth shut. He clenched his teeth together before saying something he might regret.

“Oh you think you can take me just ‘cause you’ve been doing some stupid training? You’re still quirkless, Deku!” small explosions start to form in Bakugou’s hands as a mean smile grows on his face.

“Quirkless Deku!” the boys around Bakugou chanted, laughing at the boy. “Quirkless Deku! Quirkless Deku!” Rage built in Izuku’s small body, his arms tensing. He shook, clenching his mouth shut.

“You will never be any good without a quirk, Deku,” the bully laughed.

Acting rather impulsively Izuku launches himself at Bakugou, jumping on top of him. He gets small explosions near his face, burning and cutting him up. But with the rage inside of the child he didn’t care and started to punch the boy in the face. Bakugou’s two friends stayed back scared, now silent.

Tears flowed down as Izuku’s face as he continued to punch Bakugou for talking badly about his father, about him. Bakugou squirmed trying to use his quirk to blow Izuku off of him, but with all of the strength training Izuku had been through with All Might he firmly stood his ground. Sitting on top of the other child Izuku kept hitting him while taking blasts from Bakugou’s quirk. Izuku had caused Bakugou’s nose to bleed and he had a black eye. He was covered in bruises and his lip was swollen.

“Don’t stand there!” Bakugou yells at his friends, trying to combat Izuku on top of him. “Help!” The two children run off scared, leaving Bakugou to deal with Izuku by himself. Angrily he was able to get out from under Izuku and pinned him down, punching him in the face as well. Izuku screams, trying to get the child off of him. He tried recalling some method Nighteye had taught him if he had ever been pinned by someone who was bigger or stronger than him.

His training with the pro heroes was showing, he was holding his own against the toughest kid in school, and managed to get in some good punches as well. The two changed positions, rolling on the ground. Bakugou had almost stopped using his quirk entirely, angrily using his fists instead of his power.

The two boys were covered in cuts and bruises, dirt staining their school uniforms. Tears flowed down Izuku’s face angrily, as he tried to beat Bakugou. He felt as if he was proving himself, that even if he didn’t have a quirk he should be seen as Bakugou’s equal. That the nickname Deku didn’t suit him and never would.

Bakugou launches an explosion at Izuku, causing him to fly backwards, landing on his arm. When he got up his right forearm was bent in a place where it shouldn’t be. He cries, but isn’t done fighting. Bakugou smiles at the damage he had done to his opponent, laughing even. Izuku runs at Bakugou, kicking his legs and using his left arm to punch him, keeping his right arm out of the way.

“You’ve already lost!” Bakugou yells, referring to Izuku’s arm. “Just give up! You’ll never be as good as me and you’ll never be a hero!” Izuku screams, punching Bakugou more furiously, rage clouding his judgement and making him dizzy. He almost wasn’t in control of what he was doing anymore.

Taking advantage of a disoriented Izuku Bakugou is able to push the other child off of him and push his face into the dirt. Izuku’s body weight is squished against his broken arm causing him to scream in pain, but he wasn’t done yet. The boy squirms, screaming in both pain and rage. He wasn’t about to be beaten by Bakugou, not this time.

“You’re wrong!” Izuku yelled, using his leg to sweep under Bakugou’s, making him fall. “I’m going to be a great hero!” He jumps on top of his friend / bully, intense look in his eyes. “Just like All Might!” Bakugou brings his hands close to Izuku’s face, triggering an explosion from his hands. It caught his left cheek, burning it only slightly. Bakugou was becoming drained, not able to produce large scales explosions one after another just yet.

“All Might?” the bully exclaims, pushing Izuku to the ground once again, regaining his balance. “You’ll never be half as good as All Might.”

“That’s not true!” Izuku cried, rolling out of Bakugou’s reach. Quickly the boy gets back onto his feet, left fist raised. Hanging to Izuku’s side was his broken right arm, but he didn’t pay any attention to this new handicap.

“How could your Quirkless ass ever be anything like All Might?” Bakugou yells, lunging at Izuku again. Izuku jumps to his right, grabbing Bakugou with his left arm, pushing him onto the ground where he sat on top of him again.

“I want to make a world where people can smile! Like All Might!” Izuku screams, “You just want to be a bully Kacchan! All Might- he…” Again the child had devolved into crying, punching Bakugou.

By the time a teacher had returned with Bakugou’s two friends the two were unbelievably beat up. Izuku had broken his right arm. Bakugou’s nose appeared to be broken, blood hemorrhaging from his nostrils. Izuku’s nose was bleeding too, but it didn’t appear to be broken. Both were covered in blood and bruises, blood of their own and each other’s. Both of the children’s knuckles were cut and bruised, raw from hitting each other. Izuku had burns all over him, small burns in his uniform as well.

“I cannot believe you two!” the teacher exclaimed, picking the two up off the ground, separating them with a stretching quirk so they couldn’t touch each other.

“He talked bad about my father!” Izuku cried, still trying to punch the other child.

“You’re nothing, Deku! You never will be!” raged Bakugou, his explosion quirk quickly returning into his hands.

“Both of you are going to the principal’s office!” the teacher exclaims. “Where I will be calling your parents!” All color drained from Izuku’s face. After hearing this rage vanished from him, only now thinking clearly. He had not thought of what was going to happen when his father found out he was using his training to hurt another kid. It was actually something he was forbidden to do. The child continued crying, but now for a different reason.

“What a crybaby,” Bakugou huffed.

At home Toshinori had taken advantage of the rare occasion where he had a free day. Nothing was calling him into hero work and Inko was home with him. Together they were having a lazy day, they made lunch for themselves, peacefully watching whatever their hearts desired on the television. This was rare and the two savored every second.

Even on days where Toshinori was home their son was usually running around, the house was never as quiet as it currently was. Not that both of them didn’t love their son, but moments like this were appreciated.

The phone rang and Toshinori got up to answer it, letting his wife sit. He goes to the phone, seeing it was the school’s number, confused and somewhat worried. What could the school be calling them for?

“Hello?” Toshinori asks.

“I’m so sorry Mr. Yagi, I hate to call you, but Izuku got into a fight in school, and both boys are pretty beat up,” the principal answers. “We’re going to need you to come in.” Usually it was Inko would go to the school about something like this. Though since Inko insisted something Toshinori needed to address he was the one who went. Not that he didn’t agree, he was the one who was training Izuku. He hadn’t done anything like this up until this point.

Izuku sat in the principal’s office, his knees trembling. He was terrified. Though Bakugou didn’t look effected at all. He waited for his father to walk through the door and scold him. Even when he wasn’t in his All Might form, his father was so intimidating. He stood tall when not slouching, and that was much more intimidating when he was angry.  Afraid of what his father might say to him the child shook. What would Gran Torino say when he found out? Or Nighteye? Izuku wasn’t worried about the trouble he was in with the school but rather the three pro heroes.

The entire time the child was in the office he remained crying, and cried the whole time the nurse was patching him up. She stated nothing on the boys was going to give them much trouble thanks to her healing quirk they would be fully healed within a matter of a week or so. Both of the boys were too prideful to admit their injuries bothered them, though. Bakugo sat in silence, wanting to leave, annoyed by the crying Izuku next to him.

Toshinori walked into the school wearing his yellow formal suit. He couldn’t believe Izuku had beaten up the boy he had talked so fondly of. After a teacher had shown Toshinori where to go he made it into the principal’s office to finally see the two boys for himself. Both of them were fairly hurt, but he sees Izuku was still crying. The child looked down at the floor, not even attempting to make eye contact with Toshinori. He could hear occasional sniffles as he kept to keep his tears in. Bakugou looked at Toshinori, stern look on his face. All the man wanted to do was comfort his son, but this was not the time.

“Thank you for coming so quickly, Mr. Yagi,” the principal begins. “We’re still waiting on Mrs. Bakugou, but I suppose I can fill you in on all of your son’s injuries.” Listening the man continuously looks over to Izuku who continued to only let sniffles escape his small frame. He played with his thumbs still looking at the floor. He prepared for the worst later.

Soon entered a woman with explosive hair, just like her son’s. She had a calmer energy than her son gave off, but entered the room with a similar face Katsuki had on his own. Very stern, his lips curled, eyes narrowed and his nose scrunched up. Well as much as it could be with it being broken. The woman smiles upon seeing the principal, shaking her hand upon sitting down next to Toshinori.

“Now we can start,” the principal says, looking at the two boys. “We have a zero tolerance for fights like this. And use of quirks on school grounds is especially prohibited.” Her gaze soon switched over to Katsuki Bakugou in particular. “You could’ve severally hurt Mr. Yagi, be happy he didn’t have a quirk.” Those words stung both Toshinori and Izuku, but neither let it show.

“He started it,” Katsuki exclaimed, crossing his arms.

“You talked badly about my father!” Izuku protests, face going red after his sudden outburst. It soon made sense to Toshinori why his son would get into a fight in the first place. The child idolized him, wanted to be him. A part of Toshinori wanted to be proud of his son for defending his family’s honor. Though he knew a fight was not an acceptable way to do that. Especially not at his age.

“So what are we looking at in terms of punishment?” Mrs. Bakugou asks, trying to push the conversation back on track.

“Since Katsuki has used his quirk on school grounds, violently none the less, his punishment is going to be much more severe,” the principal states.

“With all due respect,” Toshinori speaks up. “It sounds like my son initiated this fight. Please punish him equally. Quirk or no quirk.” After all, once Izuku inherited One For All he’d use it around the same way he’d beaten up this other child. It was better Izuku learned now that using a quirk in this manner had consequences.

“Using a quirk like this on school grounds usually accounts for a week’s suspension,” explains the principal. “Without a quirk is only three days.” Toshinori agreed with the suspension as did Mrs. Bakugou. The three adults made the children apologize to one another. While walking out of the school the two parents laughed about their children and how stubborn they both were. How they hoped neither took offense and it was just boys being boys. Parting ways Toshinori looks down at Izuku who remained silent. Toshinori became silent as well upon their journey home together.

The train ride was unbearably quiet and awkward. Izuku held back more tears, still upset of letting his father, his hero, down. He acted rash and he couldn’t explain why. And for whatever reason, he didn’t think he would’ve been able to help it if he tried. He also didn’t want to admit he felt a little bit of pride in holding his own against Bakugou, who was using his quirk. He was considered the strongest kid in their school. Maybe now he could be considered his equal Izuku thought. He didn’t let Toshinori see any pride within him, though, knowing what he did was wrong. He was confused why he felt any pride about this at all.

 When arriving home Izuku prepared for the worst. He expected to be yelled at. Sure enough Inko was waiting for the two boys. His mother seemed much angrier than his father was. To top it off, Toshinori appeared scared of his wife. He was worried about what she was going to say.

“Well?” Inko asks Toshinori.

“Both boys received one week of suspension,” the man says. “Since Izuku started the fight he got the same punishment as young Bakugou got for using his quirk.” Izuku hadn’t made eye contact with either of his parents since he got in trouble, and he sure wasn’t about to start now. He could tell how angry his mother was without even looking at her, before she got a chance to say anything. He could feel it in the air. He clasps his hands together, hanging bellow his torso, arms straight. He looked down at the floor, both of them were so stern, so angry. Izuku had never seen his parents like this before.

“You _started_ the fight?” Inko exclaimed, not wanting to believe it. “Why would you do that‽”

“He was talking bad about Dad!” Izuku says, just now looking up. Snot was running down his face, tears following. “He’s always picking on me! He says since I don’t have a quirk I’m not as good as everybody else!” His talked devolved into crying, hiccups disrupting him whenever he tried to talk. He tried to speak, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. All he could manage to get out was a few muffled “Sorry”s, but he wanted to explain himself further.

“You know what you did was wrong, right?” Toshinori asks the boy, Izuku giving a nod in return. Pitying the small child Toshinori kneels down to his height, giving him a weak smile. “I’m glad you stood up for yourself, but sometimes violence isn’t the answer. I’m sorry he picks on you so much. What he says isn’t true at all.” Izuku hugs his father tightly, tears slowly beginning to subside. His parents sent him into the bathroom to wash off and change his clothes.

“What have you been teaching his boy?” Inko asks Toshinori.

“Just self-defense!” Toshinori explains. “I never taught him to go after anyone like that. I promise.”

“Maybe you should stop training him,” Inko sighed.

“No!” Toshinori exclaimed scared. “I mean… uh… As those kids grow up they’re going to grow stronger and more familiar with their quirks. It’s only fair he knows how to defend himself against future bullies. I’ll make sure to give him a talking to. I’m sorry if anything I taught him promoted him to start that fight.” Inko grew suspicious of Toshinori’s intentions, but agreed to keep Izuku in training after a punishment and a real discussion. After he had calmed down of course.

Toshinori hated playing Bad Cop when parenting Izuku. He found himself crumbling whenever he cried or asked him for something. Taking the role of Bad Cop usually went to Inko, not that she enjoyed it. The father and son were one in the same, and that was starting to show more and more every day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I don't know I just figured maybe if Izuku didn't doubt himself so much he'd stand up to Bakugou  
> ~Not that they wouldn't still be friends~  
> Thanks again for following this story!


	5. A Day Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toshinori takes Izuku out where he sees a familiar face.

Being All Might was becoming harder and harder for Toshinori. He found himself home more often. He was able to be All Might for a decent amount of time considering the severity of his accident a couple years back. Though he would admit he enjoyed spending time home with his son. The man would help him get ready in the mornings, help Inko around the house and would occasionally pick Izuku up from school.

From school the two would usually go to the beach to meet up with Gran Torino and Nighteye. There Izuku continued to work harder with said heroes, still wanting to become as strong as All Might. The three heroes had worked cleaning the litter covered beach into his training regimen. Slowly the beach was becoming barren of waste. The child was putting everything he had into his training. Toshinori even had to tell Izuku to rest while he was at home, for his training schedule counted on those rest periods. Admittedly Toshinori was happy that his son was so enthusiastic about becoming a hero.

While resting Izuku would focus on his school work. As he got older everything only got harder. His school work had grown more excessive and the three heroes expected more out of the boy. As he got older he found the only days he would have free would be during school breaks or holidays. Summer break was his favorite. He could spend his days outside, at parks or researching heroes. The boy had begun keeping notes on what it meant to be a hero. Knowing he could only learn so much from the three pros Izuku took notes of the other pros: Endeavor, Best Jeanist, Ryuku, Edge Shot, Gang Orca and many others. But of course whenever the he saw All Might on the news he would still take notes.

Seeing his father was so inspiring to Izuku. Even after his injuries the man insisted on being the hero, as well as keeping his ranking as the number one hero. At home he could see continuing hero work was taking its toll on his father. After a day of being All Might Toshinori was worn out and sometimes even came home in great pain. Tissue boxes had become a necessity with the amount of blood Toshinori would cough up on a regular basis.

Even with all of this Toshinori continued to be All Might. His civilian form used to look almost exactly like All Might, now he looked like a skeleton, scaring kids from time to time. He had become so self-conscious, regardless of

On one of his day off Izuku sat on his couch as he watched Endeavor. He was fighting some villain and took notes on everything he did. Toshinori was home and watches his child, seeing how focused he was. He understood Izuku’s excitement, Endeavor was the number two hero under himself. Sitting down Toshinori looks at Izuku’s notebook, seeing how much he was writing and how detailed he was being.

“What’s that for?” Toshinori asks. Izuku looks up at his father, his face turning a bright red.

“Ummm… Since I don’t have a quirk I, uh, I thought I’d take notes on what it means to be a hero,” Izuku explains, eyes going from the notebook to his father a few times. “Nighteye said it was a good idea when I asked him about it…”

“Makes sense,” Toshinori chuckled. Even away from training to be a hero he was focusing on being a hero. If Toshinori could credit his son with anything it’d be his dedication. “Anything in there on your old man?”

“Tons!” Izuku beams, flipping the pages of his notebook to find drawings and notes of his father. There were notes of his differences in civilian form and All Might form, how he used his attacks. Listed were his power moves, how he appeared to use them. Drawings of him in his costumes crowded the pages, a couple drawings of his civilian forms, comparing the two. The child had put down the time limit his father appeared to have currently.

“Very… thorough,” Toshinori chuckled awkwardly, he knew his son idolized him, but this was a new level. Sure the child was almost always in some kind of All Might merchandise. When he was younger he practically lived in his All Might onesie. He never knew he watched him this intensely.

“Dad… do you miss doing hero work?” Izuku asks, looking back to Endeavor on the television. This question took Toshinori by surprise.

“Why I still am a hero,” Toshinori exclaimed smiling. Blood starts to spill from his mouth a little with his outburst, it was nothing Toshinori nor Izuku weren’t used to at this point. Though at first it startled them both, but it had become such a normal thing. Using a tissue he wipes his face, still smiling however.

“I mean do you miss not having a limit?” Izuku explains. “You can’t be a hero for as long as you used to. Everyone still thinks you’re as strong as ever, and you’re still the number one hero… but I’ve heard Nighteye say that won’t last for much longer.” Toshinori thinks for a moment, seeing the worry grow in his son’s eyes. He wondered if this was something Nighteye had brought up to Izuku or if the child had overheard them somewhere.

“Well yes, I do miss being able to help people as often as I did,” Toshinori said, “but I am grateful that I am still able to help people when I am able.”

“But that’s not going to last-”

“And for as long as I’m able to help people that’s enough because I’m still their symbol of peace. As long as I’m still standing and smiling I give people hope. No matter what the cost, or how I feel. Just as long as I can make people happy, that’s all I could ask for. Even now that I’m not able to be All Might for too long people still have hope when they see me, that’s the reason I wanted to be a hero in the first place.” Izuku stops, processing what his father had said. While this wasn’t new information putting it to this new context almost changed his perspective on All Might, on his father. Even when in great pain he smiled, not for his own sake, but for others’.

“Even now?” Izuku asks. “When you’re like this?” He motions to Toshinori’s abdomen, to the blood stained tissue he still had in his hand.

“Especially now,” Toshinori chuckled, “I came back when no one thought I could.” It was true, when All Might had announced he was still continuing hero work the public idolized him more than ever. Some may have called the hero foolish but others were awe struck in his durability. Everyone had seen the damage done in his battle with All For One, so the hero coming back shocked everyone. Most people considered him dead, and of those who believed he was alive assumed he was going to retire. So All Might announcing he was going to continue to be a hero just made everyone support All Might even further.

Since All Might had announced his comeback villainy had gone down, villains terrified of a man who could withstand that kind of blow. The pros knew this decrease in activity wasn’t going to last, however. But for now everyone was happier than ever.

“You’re right,” Izuku agreed.

“Getting tired of having me around already, huh?”

“W-What? I-I-I never said that!” Izuku exclaims, jumping to his feet matching his father’s height. Even while sitting the 7 foot tall man towered over the boy, though standing on the couch now he matched his father’s height.  The child’s outburst made Toshinori laugh.

“Relax,” Toshinori laughed, “I was just kidding.”

“Yeah… yeah I knew that,” Izuku said, sitting back down and watching Endeavor on television again. Toshinori sighs, watching his son take notes on the hero. Even with being home more often he felt as though the two didn’t communicate enough, and even when they did it was usually for hero training.

“Why don’t we do something today?” asks Toshinori, “Just you and me. No Gran Torino, no Sir Nighteye. What do you say?” Confused by his father’s sudden request the child nods, making Toshinori happy.

“Like what?” he asks, closing his notebook, turning the television off. He had already gotten more than he needed on Endeavor anyways.

“Let’s see… what do you like to do?” Toshinori asked, admittedly feeling a little bad for not knowing his son’s interests that didn’t pertain to heroes. In his defense, however, he didn’t have very many.

“Well… sometimes Mom and I go to the park,” Izuku shrugged. “And that’s nice. Sometimes we feed the ducks.”

“We can do that!” Toshinori exclaims standing. Reaching out for Izuku’s hand he smiles. “Father and son adventure!” His father’s excitement makes Izuku laugh as he gets off the couch. Putting their shoes on they leave the house, Izuku waving his All Might action figure around which he had insisted on bringing.

Lately Toshinori was able to walk around without being noticed as All Might. His civilian form was so skinny and sickly that no one was able to make the connection between the two forms. While being in both forms was exhausting for the man it was nice to not have to go to extensive measures to make sure he wasn’t noticed.

When his All Might form was almost indistinguishable from his civilian form he would be followed around by paparazzi almost everywhere he went. Up until now a simple trip like this to the park with Izuku would have been impossible. He was grateful he was now able to spend time with his son outside of the house at least.

Walking down the street Toshinori smiles down at his son, holding his small hand in his own. The boy was about to turn ten, and he was still so small. It was predicted he was going to grow taller than his mother but not come anywhere near as tall as Toshinori. It was almost laughable how much the two were different physically. Inko had passed down all of the dominant traits to Izuku, only inheriting the texture of Toshinori’s rough and almost curly hair.

Though Toshinori was almost released, it would be harder for people to make connections between himself in the boy until the public was ready to know of their relationship. For now the two looked as though they were family friends, and while Toshinori was All Might, no one would be able to tell, even once Izuku received One For All, it would be difficult to tell.

Izuku points out exciting things in the streets such pro heroes out on patrols. He’d occasionally excitedly yell “dog” and drag Toshinori over to pet the animal. It made the man happy to see Izuku so happy and seemingly relaxed. It wasn’t a side he got to see very often.

Reaching the small park Toshinori spends a small amount of money on some bird feed, so the child could feed the ducks as he described. Watching the child approach the animals made him smile, he was so excited the birds would instinctively flee until he revealed the food in his hands, making them all flock back and around him. Feeding the birds he turns his head back around at Toshinori, smiling wide. Sneakily Toshinori takes a couple pictures, chuckling at the boy before being dragged to the birds with him. The man had to kneel so he wasn’t towering over Izuku. Receiving bird food Izuku helped Toshinori hold his hands out so he’d seem approachable, jumping excitedly as they ate from his father’s hands.

Seeing a familiar face Toshinori stands, seeing the hero only one rank bellow him: Endeavor. By his side was a small child who he assumed was the same age as Izuku. He was covered in bandages, a burn covering his left eye.

“Izuku, come with me,” Toshinori says, taking the hand of his son. He discreetly transforms into his All Might form before approaching his colleague. “Endeavor!”

Endeavor was surprisingly easy to spot. The man’s hero form wasn’t any different than how he usually looked besides the more prominent flames. It wasn’t too much unlike All Might before the All For One accident.

Turning to see All Might Endeavor noticeably winces but is distracted by the child holding onto is colleague’s hand. “All Might, strange seeing you here,” he says, eyes focused on Izuku. It was making the child a little uncomfortable, but he remained confident holding onto All Might’s hand. “And… who is this?” The child who was with Endeavor looks to the boy his age, curious and cautious. He seemed so nervous, so timid.

“Ah, this is Izuku,” All Might states proudly, smiling wide. “And who is that you’re with?”

“ _This_ is Shouto,” Endeavor boasts, pushing his child in front of him. “Going to beat you for the top hero one day, All Might, I can guarantee it.”

“Well not if my boy here has anything to say about it,” All Might exclaims laughing. “Huh, Izuku?” Izuku nods instinctively, while nervous he felt as though he didn’t have any choice but to agree with his father. This makes Endeavor laugh.

“This small-fry?” the pro hero laughed, “Against my Shouto?” He moves his hand to his son’s shoulder, continuing to laugh. “Sorry, All Might, but there’s no way.”

“Well… I didn’t come over here to compare children,” All Might chuckled awkwardly. “How old is your boy exactly?”

“Ten,” Endeavor states. “Yours?”

“Almost ten,” All Might shrugged. “They’ll be attending Yuuei together won’t they? Probably be in the same class.”

“Your point?”

“Well I’m not sure about Shouto but, I know Izuku has difficulties making friends,” he stated, not meaning it as an insult. “Perhaps these two could start off on the right foot, maybe have a familiar face in the school instead of being total strangers.” The relationship between Endeavor and All Might wasn’t the greatest, and the man didn’t want their sons to have the same relationship. One of constant fighting, arguing and Endeavor constantly trying to beat the Number One hero. These fights were not in a friendly manner either, rather in a: “once and for all” sense. Izuku didn’t need that in school. This fight didn’t need to transcend a generation.

“We were in the middle of-”

“Oh what will it hurt?” All Might intrudes, smiling for Endeavor’s son. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, boy.” He sees the burn almost covering the left side of the face, wondering how he had gotten it. But he ignores this, keeping his All Might smile for the boy, seeing his face light up.

Shouto couldn’t believe it: he was standing in front of All Might, his hero. His words inspired him to be a hero on more than one occasion. It was something Endeavor despised, but couldn’t be helped. Next to his hero stood his son, Izuku, who looked somewhat frail but awe struck looking at Endeavor. Shouto assumed it was a similar expression he had on his own face.

“Why don’t you two boys go and play?” All Might suggested, looking at Endeavor. “I’m sure you two will see a lot of each other in the future, might as well get acquainted now, right?” Endeavor huffed, All Might was as intrusive and persistent as always.

“15 minutes,” Endeavor ordered, at least Shouto would get to learn about his future competition, which at the moment didn’t look like too much in comparison to his gifted child. Excitedly Shouto runs off with Izuku, happy to get away from his father while Izuku looks back at All Might somewhat nervous. All Might waves at his son, the two remained in eyesight of the two, but just barely.

It was quiet for a couple minutes, neither of the two boys were very good at being sociable. Izuku studied Shouto, eyes always gravitating back to the burn on the other child’s face, but he didn’t dare say anything about it. He didn’t want to be rude and tried not to stare.

The two shared more than they knew. Neither could boast about their parents for safety reasons. Both of them had big shoes to fill as they grew up, one day taking the spot of their parent. While Izuku didn’t know it he was training to combat children like Shouto for the top hero spot when he got older, so he could be the Symbol of Peace while Shouto was being trained to conquer that symbol.

“Your dad is really cool,” Izuku says, finally saying something between the two of them.

“Sure,” Shouto shrugged, “I guess he is the number two hero after all… but your dad! All Might! That’s so amazing!” Izuku chuckles, this was the first time he would be able to talk about his father to a child, and say who he was. No one else his age knew who his father was, for safety reasons of course and Izuku knew this. But it felt nice to openly talk about having All Might so closely in his life to another kid who seemed to also idolize the hero.

Izuku liked the fact that here was a child with a dad whose hero ranking was only one rank bellow his father’s he could talk to. No one else but the two of them would understand what one another felt like. No one else would understand the stress and worry that put on a household.

“Yeah! All Might is the best!” Izuku exclaimed. “Oh! But Endeavor is strong too! His fire is so… so awesome!” Almost wincing Shouto shakes his head.

“But that’s nothing compared to All Might’s strength!” Shouto argued smiling. “Fire isn’t that great anyways.”

The boys seemed to be hitting it off, which made All Might happy. While he couldn’t hear what the boys were saying both appeared happy, enjoying each other’s company. He watches them from afar, only half listening to Endeavor rant about something he truly didn’t care about.

While Shouto may be the son of All Might’s competition, the pro hero knew a friend who lived in a similar household was something that Izuku desperately needed. Or even a nice friend at all, seeing how toxic Izuku’s relationship with Bakugou was. Not that Izuku would ever admit the relationship is toxic.

“Hey, All Might,” Endeavor speaks up, getting the other hero’s attention. “Why didn’t I know you have a boy? I’ve asked you before.”

“Oh, well…” All Might rubs the back of his neck, “I didn’t want anyone finding out. Those boys are so young. I don’t want information of his to be leaked to the media or worse, villains.”

“I suppose I understand,” Endeavor huffed, not that Shouto was his first. He had other kids, but he was the proudest of Shouto. He possessed the quirks he wanted to have him as his wife pass on. He was able to use both fire and ice, the perfect combination for a hero when he got older. “You could’ve told me. It’s not like I’d blab to the media. I know how it is you know.” All Might turns his attention away from their boys to the pro beside him.

“I didn’t think you’d do that at all!” All Might exclaimed, “He just. Well… An old friend of mine lost her family due to her trust being put in the wrong people. Not that you’re not trustworthy! That’s just something that has never left me. I think about it all the time, you know? Our jobs are dangerous.”

“You would know that more than anyone,” Endeavor agrees. “How’s your kid handling what happened?” This was the first time All Might had seen Endeavor actually care about his wellbeing.

“He was shaken up,” All Might sighed, looking back to the children who were running around playing with one another. “But everything’s alright now… He’s tough.” Endeavor nods, watching the children now as well, the conversation heading into awkward territory that neither man were used to.

The children sat and spoke, talking about their favorite heroes, their dreams for the future. They soon discovered, to neither of their surprise, they both wanted to be heroes themselves. Both of them intended on attending Yuuei high school, both of their fathers coming from said school.

Izuku even shared the fact that he was Quirkless with Shouto. The child was confused at how he couldn’t have gotten All Might’s quirk, but since Izuku was still unaware of One For All he just agrees and laughs it off as he had learnt to do. Shouto shows off his ice power for Izuku by making small ice sickles in his hands, impressing him greatly.

“You have ice? That is amazing!” Izuku exclaims, jumping up and down. “You’re going to be a fantastic hero with a quirk like that!” Shouto smiled, liking that Izuku was impressed by his ice. Endeavor seemed to favor his fire side, which was of course the side he had passed down, so it made sense.

“Thanks, Izuku,” the child beams. “I’m sure even though you don’t have a quirk you will be a hero somehow.” Hearing these words from another child makes Izuku tear up a little, but he remained smiling. This was never something he had heard from another child, only the heroes who were training him and his mother. Not that he didn’t admire their judgement or praise, but he heard it quite often from them. Hearing it from someone who was his own age felt different, and with someone with an amazing quirk of their own nonetheless.

“Thank you, Shoto!” Izuku exclaims, smiling wide.

The children ran around and played together with the little time they had let together. It bothered Endeavor how fast Izuku seemed to be, but as his own son used his quirk to play Izuku didn’t seem to be using one of his own. Knowing how much of a showoff All Might was with his own quirk he wondered what Izuku could possibly be hiding.

“Shouto!” Endeavor exclaims, tired of talking to All Might. “We’re leaving!” The two children run back to their fathers, shaking hands before they start to separate.

“Nice meeting you, Izuku,” Shouto says.

“You’ll be seeing more of him, I’m sure of it,” All Might states smiling, waving at the child.

“Bye, Shouto,” Izuku says smiling. He watched the Todorokis walk away, waving until they were out of the child’s sight. Turning back into his civilian form after making sure no one was watching them Toshinori smiles down at Izuku.

“So you made a friend, huh?” Toshinori inquires.

“Yeah, he’s nice,” Izuku answered.

“Good, he could probably use some friends,” his father sighed.

“What do you mean?”

“Oh- um- nothing. I didn’t mean anything, it’s just… He seemed just as bad at making friends as you can be, my boy,” Toshinori stuttered. Izuku nodded, chuckling.

“Dad?”

“Yes?”

“He uh… Well Shouto seemed pretty hurt didn’t he?” The child places his pointer finger to his left eye, awkward and almost afraid of bringing it up.

“He did,” Toshinori was unsure of how to talk about this with Izuku. He didn’t want to assume anything about the hero’s personal life, the child could’ve gotten scars like those many ways. But he was worried about him just as his son was.

“Do you think… do you think he’s okay?” Izuku asked. A sense of pride built up inside of Toshinori. If the man had any doubts about choosing Izuku as a successor they would have been removed by this. He genuinely cared about people and this seemed to prove it.

“I think so.” Toshinori chuckled awkwardly, patting his head. Izuku nodded, though still curious.

“Alright.” Izuku nodded, Toshinori looks down to Izuku, giving him a wide smile, one that the child didn’t usually get from his father’s civilian form.

“Why don’t we head home?” He takes his child by the hand, heading back home after a successful day out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the support!  
> Also if you like my art you can check out my Tumblr http://esther-the-cosmic-princess.tumblr.com/


	6. One for All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally Izuku is ready to receive One For All!  
> "Eat this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the continued support of the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

As Izuku continued training he grew closer to being able to receive One For All. Slowly the boy gained more confidence in himself. He had always had crippling low self-esteem. This was something Toshinori was unsure of where he got it from. But seeing the boy come out of his shell made him happy. All three pro heroes were proud of how far Izuku had come. They couldn’t have picked a better successor for One For All if they had tried.

Toshinori revealed to Inko once Izuku was 13 why the child was working so hard. Telling her about giving the boy One For All. She was apprehensive but she understood, agreeing the boy was more than ready to be told about One For All and receive it. He would have a year to learn to control it so by the time he was applying to Yuuei he would be able to pass the entrance exam. It had become the boy’s dream after all.

On a walk to the beach where Izuku has trained for years Toshinori smiles, his son would finally receive One For All. He was going to start to replace him as he Symbol Of Peace. He was finally going to have a quirk. The child would have everything he’s dreamed of. A Quirk, he would one day be a hero. Toshinori couldn’t be prouder of his son if he wanted to. Izuku had worked so hard for this. For years the boy had worked, he had done everything the three heroes told him to do while training. Today that work was going to finally pay off.

Reaching the beach Gran Torino and Nighteye were waiting for them, as they usually were. The two pro heroes knew Izuku was finally receiving One For All today. All three agreed he was ready. Toshinori wouldn’t have gone ahead with giving the boy the power without their opinions.

It was a big decision in deciding if the boy was ready, but evaluating where Toshinori was when he received One For All and the boy’s own progress all three agreed he was ready and would wield the power responsibly. Meeting with the heroes Toshinori transforms into All Might, smile like Izuku had never seen on his face.

“Izuku!” All Might exclaims happily. “You have been working very hard these past few years and all of us are very proud of you! While we don’t say it often enough, we very much are. We believe it’s time to tell you why we’ve been working you so hard, what this training was actually for.”

“It was to defend myself,” Izuku says, confusion present in his tone. That’s what the heroes had always told him, that and of course one other reason. “So I could be the first person to get into Yuuei without a quirk.” Allowing Quirkless children into the hero course was new at the famous high school though no one had managed to do it. Not one person had gotten into Yuuei without a quirk and Izuku thought he might be the first one.

“While true there is more to it!” All Might laughs. “My boy, do you know what my quirk officially is?” The boy thought for a moment, and now that All Might brought it up no one officially knew what his quirk was. People had theories but nothing solidly true. On forums online people would speculate, comparing All Might to other heroes, but nothing added up to match everything. So no one knew what the number one hero’s quirk officially was. Not even his own son.

“Well… no…” Izuku says, trying his best to think.

“It’s called One For All,” All Might beams. “It’s a sacred power that’s been passed onto me by someone else. For generations this quirk has been passed on. I received it from my master. One person improves the power, then hands if off to another person. It continues to grow as it’s passed along. It is this cultivated power that me to save those who are in need of a hero. The truth behind my strength. Now my boy it’s time I passed on this power to you, Izuku. You will be my successor as the next Symbol Of Peace.” The boy’s eyes widen, he was completely overwhelmed. He was going to be the next Symbol of Peace, as powerful as All Might.

“We couldn’t allow you to receive this power until your body was ready,” Gran Torino explained. “The backlash of the power is too strong to give to someone who is unprepared to bear it. Please understand we waited to tell you and to give it to you because we needed to make sure you were ready.”

“All of my powers are also going to become yours,” All Might exclaims, “do you accept?” It wasn’t much of a question, the three heroes knew the child wasn’t going to turn him down, but it was still a question he was going to ask his child. While One For All couldn’t be forcefully taken it could be forcefully given; and All Might wasn’t going to put his son through that, not that he was worried Izuku wasn’t going to take the power.

Without thinking Izuku yells, “Of course I want your quirk! Thank you, Dad!” Tears are flowing down his face, thankful for this kind of an opportunity. The thought of having a quirk almost causing him to cry, it was a dream come true. He wondered if he was even worthy but he shook this thought off in an instant smiling as tears of joy streamed down his face.

“No reluctance, that’s exactly how I figured you’d respond,” all Might laughs at his son’s excitement. “Someone told me this one: There’s a difference between being lucky and deserving. One an accident the other a reward. Never get the two confused! Take that to heart young man. This gift: you’ve earned it with your own valent efforts.” He then plucks a hair from his head. The long blonde hair is brought in front of his face, the smile growing on All Might’s face growing somewhat awkward.

“Huh?”

 “Eat this,” the man says, looking his son in the eyes.

“Wait, what?”

“To inherit my power you’ve got to swallow some of my D.N.A that’s just how it works. If you want my quirk you’re going to have to eat this.” All Might couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as Izuku’s look of disgust grew, taking his father’s hair into his hand. This wasn’t a short hair, either. All Might was even famous for his long blonde hair. Gran Torino laughs at the child, telling him to get on with eating the hair already.

_This is so gross_ Izuku winces, looking at the hair before starting to put it in his mouth. _This is so gross. This is so gross._ Toshinori was reminded of a familiar feeling. He remembered eating is own predecessor’s hair and how disgusted he had been. This among other things was a part of the price to gain this mazing quirk. To receive One For All this was the only way to do it.

Finding this whole situation hilarious Gran Torino watches. He was happy he had lived to see the passing of One For All twice. Izuku was reaction just as his father did upon receiving the quirk. The expressions were completely mirrored, the look of disgust showing as clear as ever.

“Sorry, Kiddo, but there’s no other way,” All Might laughed. Everyone watched as the child finished the hair before Nighteye provided him with a water bottle.

“So when can I use the quirk?” Izuku exclaims, jumping up and down after taking a drink.

“You’ve swallowed it, yes?” All Might asked.

“Yeah but, I don’t feel like anything’s different yet.”

“Well of course not, your body has to process the hair first. It should kick in after two, maybe three hours,” All Might informs, chuckling at the boy’s excitement. “If anything starts to feel different let one of us know. We don’t want you using One For All on your own just yet. You’re going to have to use a small percentage of it, which I will explain later.”

Izuku went through his training excitedly, waiting for something, anything, to feel different. He was finally going to have a quirk just like everyone he knew. Finally he was going to be his peer’s equal, he’d have a way to actually achieve his dreams of becoming a hero.

As he did warmups thoughts of using the power clouded his mind. All he could think of was his new quirk and when it would manifest. He wondered what One For All felt like. He wanted to know what it felt like to own such a great power. He soon got lost in thought, imagining the feeling of One For All.

_THWACK_

Caught off guard Izuku is hit in the stomach with Gran Torino’s cane. All Might winces at the sound himself, remembering the feeling of being hit by Gran Torino. All Might even recalled a few times where Gran Torino had hit him so hard he had lost his lunch. The hit caused Izuku to fall back, lying on the ground he clutched his stomach. The older hero had practically knocked the wind out of him.

“Pay attention!” Gran Torino barked, “I know you’re excited to gain a quirk but doing your warm ups is very important. Especially today!”

“Yes, Gran-pa, sorry,” Izuku breathes, standing on his feet again. Gran Torino sighed. The man never had a family and grew to be somewhat an old hermit. Especially after Nana had passed away. Though that changed around thirteen years ago, with a frantic call from Toshinori.

Gran Torino remembered the call he received from Toshinori very clearly. There was so much fear and excitement in his voice. The old teacher and friend of his former master was the first person he called upon finding out he was going to be a father.

* * *

 

_“Sensei-”_

_“Toshinori! Do you know when the last time you called was?” Gran Torino immediately begins talking, interrupting Toshinori. “Or even visited?”_

_“I’m sorry, Sir. I’ll try to be more thoughtful with calls and visits.”_

_“What is it you need?”_

_“Advice.” Gran Torino starts laughing, wheezing even. “W-What is so funny?”_

_“Toshinori as long as I’ve known you, never once have you listened to me or taken my advice outside of your training.”_

_“T-that’s not true!” the man exclaims on the other end of the phone. “I greatly admire your wisdom and could truly use advice right now.” The older hero sighed._

_“Alright, what is it?”_

_“I… Sensei, I need advice on family. I know why Nana gave up her family but…” Toshinori trailed off, not knowing what to do. He was so scared. He had learned how to smile in the face of adversity, but now he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Worry grows within Gran Torino’s tone, and while he doesn’t truly need to ask the question he does regardless in case his suspicions were incorrect._

_“What brings this question up, Toshi?”_

_“Sensei, I’m going to be a father. I don’t want what happened to Nana’s family happen to mine but I don’t want to leave them.” Toshinori is close to breaking down now, Gran Torino feeling almost helpless on the other end of the phone. He wished the younger hero would have just visited him. This wasn’t something he would like to discuss over the phone, he’d be of more help in person._

_“Is that selfish?”_

_The question takes Gran Torino by surprise. While he wanted to dismiss it Gran Torino considers it. Heroes died all the time, rarely did anyone learn of their personal lives and go after hero’s families. Though both knew the case of Nana Shimura and the death of her husband which caused her to leave her own son._

_Now wasn’t the time for things like that, while he wanted to give his student advice there was no use in making him worry right now. Instead the older hero inhales deeply, trying to get Toshinori to calm down._

_“I don’t think so,” Gran Torino finally says, scratching the back of his neck. He wasn’t sure himself. Situations like these were always tricky, and only got worse with All Might being Japan’s number one hero. He had more attention than Nana did, more eyes watching him. This lead to more possible threats, more ways things could go wrong._

_“What do I do? I need your advice. Please. Just tell me what to do.” The man pleads for advice, Gran Torino was the first person he told about the situation. He feared to talk to Nighteye, the possibility his foresight potentially seeing something catastrophic staying in his mind. He wished he could just talk to Nana, get her advice._

_Gran Torino stays quiet, what could he say to the man? He had been supportive of his old friend’s decision on leaving her son, which to his knowledge had worked out beautifully until now. Although now that he thought about it, if anything had happened to her son he wouldn’t know. Trying to honor her wishes, Gran Torino stayed out of her son’s life. He didn’t know where the boy was these days. All he knew was that he was only a few years younger than Toshinori, if his memory was correct. He didn’t know if he was put under a new alias or anything. So truly, how was he to know if she made the right decision?_

_“You should come over so we can talk about it in person, Toshi,” the older hero said, not sure what else to say over the phone. “This is a delicate matter.”_

_When Toshinori did go to Gran Torino’s he was still a mess, while not unhappy he was scared. His face was red from crying, eyes puffy. The hero hadn’t felt like this since his master had passed. He felt so helpless in this situation, he felt as though no matter what he did someone could end up getting hurt._

_The older hero comforted his former student, as they discussed what could happen. Toshinori couldn’t help but feel selfish, risking the lives of people he loved; but, unlike Nana he found he wasn’t able to just leave them. So in the end they agreed the man should stay, but not tell anyone but close friends of the hero’s new family. The list of people who would know was short and contained only of: Gran Torino, Nighteye and Naomasa Tsukauchi. All people who knew of One For All._

 

* * *

 

And today here was Toshinori known to his child as both All Might and Toshinori, loved equally as both. Because Toshinori had kept his family together, hero and civilian, Gran Torino was now a part of this misfit family. He had a child look up to him a way no other had before. Sure Toshinori had admired and looked up to Gran Torino, and still did, but for some reason Izuku’s relationship with the older man felt very different. Something about the child made the man smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” Gran Torino stated, brushing the dirt off Izuku. “You’re excited, it’s understandable.” Izuku smiled, thanking Gran Torino before going back to doing his warm ups. All Might walks up to his old teacher, laughing a little.

“Gone soft have you?” All Might mocks.

“Get that cocky smile off your face, Toshi,” Gran Torino huffed.

“Yes, Sir, sorry,” apologizing he goes back to watching his son continue his warm ups and usual work outs. They continue watching the child until he calls the pros over. Looking at his own hands he feels something similar to electricity flow through him.

“I don’t quite know how to explain it,” Izuku says, looking up at the pros and especially his father. Kneeling down to his child’s height All Might puts a hand on his son’s shoulder, smiling for him.

“Alright well that’s okay, you feel something at least,” All Might laughed. “We made sure to make your training the right amount of time so the quirk wouldn’t hurt you too bad, but if you use it at its full force there will still be consequences.”

Izuku looks to his father as he explains how to hold back. He tries giving the child a bunch of metaphors to explain what holding back One For All felt like. None of them seemed to land, however. The child just stood with a blank face before he shoots up, jumping.

“Like an egg in the microwave!” Izuku yells, smile spread wide on his face. “Like if it microwaves for too long it’ll explode!” The child mimics explosions with his hands giggling a little.

“A little boring but whatever works,” All Might shrugged. “Then imagine a lower wattage or shorter cooking time I suppose. Yeah, just try to use a little bit.”

“Try to imagine what you can do now,” Gran Torino interrupts, “and imagine what it feels like if you had only a little more than that. Can you do that, Kid?” Izuku nodded, trying to feel the power flowing through him.

The heroes gave the kid a punching bag, not much for One For All, but their goal was to ease him into it. So for now something this small was better than having him visualize something big. It would probably only make him want to use more, a smaller target was optimal for testing the power.

All Might explains how to use One For All, standing alongside his son as he demonstrates how to use the power. The boy smiles, watching and attempting to get in the correct stance as the three pros reminded him to try to hold back, even if he didn’t know what he was trying to hold back. If they were to allow him to use his full power his body would be wrecked.

Clenching a fist the child screams at the top of his lungs, the bag flying away from him. Bringing his arm to his side there was some pain, but nothing unmanageable. He had some bruises, and it was sore, but he would learn from this. The three pros were just lucky he didn’t hurt himself any more than he just had.

“I… I did it!” Izuku exclaimed, tears forming in his eyes as he turns to face his father. “I used a quirk! Your quirk!” All Might smiled wide, embracing his son tightly.

“This isn’t my quirk, this is yours!” All Might exclaimed.

“That’s right,” Gran Torino says smiling. “You earned that power.”

“It is something you earned, and one day it might be indistinguishable from All Might’s,” Nighteye says smiling as well. Everyone was proud of the small child, he had come so far but he still had so much farther to go.

“They’re right you know!” All Might laughed, “That power is yours! You used it beautifully! With minor injury which is impressive for your first time!”

“Let’s get a good look at that arm speaking of,” Gran Torino said, approaching Izuku. He evaluates the state of Izuku’s arm, asking where it hurt and if pulling on it hurt. “Well you’ve got a second arm, want to give it another go? You know what it feels like now. Perhaps you can tone it down to where you won’t get hurt.”

The child reuses the same punch and the same effect happens to his other arm. It isn’t hurt too badly, but with both arms hurt the pros decided it was wasn’t worth continuing. They didn’t want the child to hut himself anymore. All Might remembered what it was like to get hurt because of One For All and Gran Torino had seen training with his own eyes before. Pushing him too hard was only going to get him hurt.

So Izuku and All Might part ways from the other two pros as they head home. All Might transforms into his civilian form, walking to their house. The child complains a couple times about the pain and Toshinori suggest some over the counter pain killers when they got home.

Izuku was worried about the pain and how it would progress as he used One For All, but he trusted the heroes who were training him. They knew what was best, his father had the same power. All Might had been through something like this before, so he had to know how to train Izuku to the best of his ability. Gran Torino had trained All Might, he knew how to have someone master One For All.

For now he would have to trust everything was going to work out and be tough through the pain. It was similar to how he felt in the beginning of training. He remembered how his muscles would ache if he overworked himself. The pain resembled that almost perfectly but almost a little more. Using his arms felt like an almost painful chore, but he was used to it. He would recover and was eager to. He wanted to use One For All and master it just like his father. Just like All Might.

Upon arriving home Toshinori suggest Izuku sits as Inko rushes in to see her son. She knew today was a big day for the boy and was ready to hear all about it. When she sees him however, he is exhausted but still seemed excited about his day.

“So?” Inko asked the two boys, “H-how’d it go?”

“He did miraculously,” Toshinori said smiling, patting Izuku’s head. “His arms hurt but that was expected. I’m going to get him some medicine.” Inko smiles, a little concerned for the child and his physical state but smiles instead. Kneeling down Inko places a hand on Izuku’s cheek.

“I’m so proud of you,” she says, “that is such a strong power to inherit. Your father says you did well, huh? What did it feel like?”

“Um… like an egg exploding in a microwave,” Izuku says awkwardly. “Like I felt like I have a power that is really strong that I can’t use just yet. Or that’s the metaphor Dad told me to use.”

“Whatever works,” Inko laughed as Toshinori renters the room, a drink and medicine for his son. He hands it over to Izuku, smiling as he takes the medicine. His arms are shaky but he manages to do it on his own, smiling the whole time.

“I still can’t believe that I have a quirk…” Izuku says, looking down to his arms. He is almost crying again, the child was a bit of a cry baby. Always had been. “A real quirk. What are my friends going to say?”

“Tell ‘em you just developed your quirk really late. Say just like me your quirk didn’t develop until you were older than the average age, just don’t tell them about One For All of course,” Toshinori informed. “You won’t be lying since it’s true, so there’s no need to feel guilty about it, alright?” The child nodded, a power that could be given from one power to another. If anyone got word of this it would spread like wildfire, and it could get into the hands of someone who would try to take advantage of this.

Izuku just agrees, relaxing after a long day. He would be recovering from today’s training for a few days, the other pro heroes had expected something like this. So the boy would spend the next few days recovering, slowly regaining arm strength. He couldn’t wait to learn how to use One For All. He couldn’t wait to learn how to become a hero. Wanting to become as good as he could as fast as he could the child couldn’t wait to go back to training.

For now he would have to recover and get used to long periods of recovering while still attending school. Having steady injuries like this and attending school would be tough but he wanted to do whatever he could so he could be a hero just like his father.

Things would become more serious, his training would get harder. Forever things were changed today, no longer was Izuku a Quirkless kid. Now he was a boy with an amazing quirk he would have to learn to wield responsibly. Starting now he would be at the same level as all the other kids in school, he had a quirk. He wasn’t weaker than them anymore. No, things were much different now that he had inherited One For All.

If he did everything correctly he would be able to apply to Yuuei and pass the entrance exam. That was his goal, and he wasn’t going to stop until he got there. No matter what walls stood in his way, Izuku Yagi was going to become a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Upon rewatching early episodes of the series All Might claimed because of how fast they rushed Iuku's training his body would get more hurt because they hadn't taken their time. Also it has been stated more than once that All Might wasn't the best teacher. So perhaps with Nighteye and Gran Torino present Izuku would have had a much better start in using One For All and wouldn't break himself every time? 
> 
> Either way thank you everyone so much for reading, bookmarking and commenting! I appreciate it all very much!


	7. The Entrance Exam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today decides of Izuku gets accepted or denied from his dream school. With the control he has over One For All surely he'll do well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the support! I love reading all of your comments

Today was the big day: Izuku was taking the entrance exam for Yuuei. Truly the boy was terrified. He knew there would be people among him who were better than him. Even though he had some control over his power he couldn’t use it at 100% just yet. One day the boy had tried using One For All 100% and he ended up with a broken hand. He was able to hold back but he assumed One For All’s power at 100% power would help him stand out against all of the other applicants.

Though he couldn’t be any more prepared if he wanted to be. He had been training for years just for the Yuuei entrance exam. He assumed it was just his nerves taking over. The boy couldn’t help but think of everything that could possibly go wrong. Knowing everyone who would be taking the exam would have been using their quirks since they were children gave Izuku a disadvantage. He had One For All for around a year now, and while he had decent control it would be nothing compared to the other applicants. They would be able to use their quirks as much as they wanted knowing their limits while Izuku was still learning.

Getting out of the shower Izuku puts on his middle school uniform and enters the libing room. Standing and waiting for him was Gran Torino, Sir Nighteye, Toshinori and Inko. A large breakfast had been prepared by Inko. Everyone wanted to see Izuku before he went off to take the exam.

“Today’s the day!” Toshinori exclaims with a smile. “How’re you feeling my boy?”

“Honestly? A little nervous,” Izuku admitted. “I know you have all worked so hard to train me but I’m still so scared.”

“You’ll do fine,” Gran Torino laughs off.

“Sit down and eat!” Inko offered, watching everyone sit down and grab plates. Toshinori jokes with Gran Torino about their days in Yuuei. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood, but Izuku still found himself tense. He ate and sat silently, only speaking when spoken to. He was distracted from the conversations at the table, trying to think what the entrance exams would be like.

Would they pin the other applicants against one another? Against lower level pros? How would they score everyone? Would he even be accepted? The school had a famously low acceptance rate, one in three hundred. That statistic alone only made Izuku tenser Once the food was gone everyone wished Izuku good luck and gave him words of encouragement. Mostly everyone was trying to calm him down.

“You’re going to do miraculously,” Toshinori says with a wide smile.

“Just remember what you’ve learned thus far,” Nighteye said.

“If you don’t get in, Kid, there’s always recommendation,” Gran Torino joked.

“Not funny,” Toshinori states, looking to his old teacher. Inko brings her son into a tight embrace.

“Don’t worry, Sweetie, just do your best,” Inko comforts Izuku, “I’m proud of you no matter what. You’ve come so far.” Izuku smiled, returning the hug.

“Thanks, Mom. Thanks everyone. I better leave before I’m late,” Izuku chuckled awkwardly, putting his shoes on. Wishing him a final goodbye everyone watches Izuku leave. Once the door had closed behind him Gran Torino turns to Toshinori.

“You still haven’t told him you’re going to be a teacher at Yuuei have you, Toshi?” Gran Torino asks.

“No, he has enough to be thinking about right now, he’d just worry. Besides, I’m only going to continue to teach him.”

“Speaking of, shouldn’t you be going as well?” Inko asked. “I know you’re not on the judging panel but you are required to watch the exams right?” Toshinori nodded, changing into his All Might form.

“Thank you, Sensei and you, Nighteye for helping me train Izuku for this day,” he bows to the other two heroes. “He wouldn’t be ready without you.” After thanking them All Might runs off to Yuuei prepared to watch the entrance exams and begin his new career as a teacher.

Izuku was on the train heading to the high school. Shaking he tried to remember to stay calm but thoughts of letting everyone down continued to stay clouded in his mind. Everyone had put so much time and effort into him. They all believed he would get accepted, so why was he doubting himself so much? They were three seasoned heroes, All Might being the best hero in all of Japan, so if they believed he would pass the entrance exams with ease he couldn’t figure out why he was still so doubtful. While he wanted to believe them for whatever reason he found himself unable to.

Looking out the window of the train he saw the school in the distance, it was enormous. It stood practically made out of the two letters U and A. The train littered with students about to take the same entrance exam as Izuku rushed to the window to look at the school, talking about same things Izuku was thinking about earlier: just what would the exam be?

Soon the train came to a stop and he walked the rest of the way to the building. People from middle schools all around were heading into the school. Everyone looked so different and probably has astonishing quirks. From behind came Izuku’s childhood _friend_ : Katsuki Bakugou.

“Stupid, Deku,” Bakugou huffs, catching Izuku’s attention. Turning around Izuku sees the angry boy whom he had grown up with. He had the same stern expression which he usually had on his face, though this one seemed more focused than angry.

“Kacchan?” Izuku looks his friend in the eyes with a small smile.

“Get out of my way now before I set you on fire.” His threat was cold and uncaring, catching Izuku completely off guard. He lunges back a step, a little scared of the boy.

“Oh –uh- hey good morning! Let’s just both do our best out there, okay? Good luck!” Izuku fumbles over his words as Bakugou walks by him, not paying him any attention. He was scared of the boy out of habit from their childhood. Recomposing himself Izuku turns around to watch Bakugou enter the school. Other applicants around them were whispering about the boy, but Izuku couldn’t quite make out what they were saying.

Taking a deep breath Izuku stands up tall once again, ready to enter the school. Remembering he wasn’t defenseless anymore Izuku tries his best to remember all of the work he had put into training for this day. “My name is Izuku Yagi, I inherited One For All. Thanks to All Might, Sir Nighteye and Gran Torino he I am going to be able to stand a chance against the other applicants,” the boy thinks to himself.  “And because of them I will one day be a hero.” Gaining a little confidence in himself he starts off for the entrance. He doesn’t get very far before tripping over his own foot, quickly falling to the ground.

Just as he is accepting his fate of hitting the concrete he finds himself stopped in midair, no longer falling. Confused he looks down, shocked into silence. He stares at the ground before he hears a giggle from a girl beside him.

“Are you okay?” the girl asks, a smile on her face. Now processing where he was the boy begins to squirm afraid and confused. He tries to put himself back on the ground with no progress whatsoever, he was still floating in place. This makes the girl laugh again before placing Izuku back on the ground, helping him out. “I stopped you with my quirk. I’m sorry I didn’t ask first, but I figured you wouldn’t mind me catching you.”

The boy was frozen, examining the girl before him. She seemed so calm in spite of taking the exam today and still so cheerful, he assumed she was always like this. Small rosy ovals on her face almost made it appear as though she was blushing. Her brunette hair was short not going too far past her shoulders. Wanting to know her quirk and to thank her Izuku tries to think of what to say in his mind but couldn’t get anything out. For whatever reason he found himself unable to speak.

“Isn’t this all like, way nerve wracking?” the girl asked, though still smiling. It reminded Izuku of his father, the girl smiling even while scared. She didn’t seem scared at all.

“Uh- um- I uh…” Still even when given something to directly respond to Izuku couldn’t find the words to speak to this girl who had saved him.

“Well, guess I’ll see you inside,” the girl says, smile still on her face as wide as before. “Bye.” Giving a small wave the girl walks off into the school a head of Izuku, leaving him to regret not speaking to her, confused as to why he was unable to say anything. Though the fact that she was willing to talk to him left him with a strange happy and proud feeling he couldn’t place that seemed to wave away some of the anxious feelings he was having earlier.

Finally entering the school for himself he finds his way to the lecture hall. The room was huge. There were thousands of students present and prepared to take the exam. Seeing Bakugou Izuku goes and sits next to him. While still a little nervous about the exam to come he did his best to remain confident. Bakugou, however, didn’t seem to worry at all. The two examine the packets the school had given them. Rules were printed out and given to each applicant. There were a lot of rules, such as don’t interfere negatively with other students, what type of machinery they would be fighting and other rules. 

Before Izuku could get a good look at the entire sheet the lights were dimmed and a spotlight was given to the podium at the front of the room. The screen behind the podium illuminated with the Yuuei logo and the voice hero, Present Mike was standing tall with a smile on his face while he greeted all of the students. Izuku almost contain himself. He listened to Present Mic’s radio show almost every night. The pro hero enthusiastically went over the rules of the exam with everyone and they were fairly simple: take out robots and you gain points. Everyone was split into groups and placed into different arenas.

The simulated cities were vast in size, Yuuei spared no expense. They were the best school with a hero course in all of Japan. Of course they had a reputation to uphold. People around him seemed so prepared, a few of them had even brought special gear. Waiting with the other applicants in his group Izuku sees the girl who had helped him earlier and the boy who had addressed the zero point robot on the handout.

Before Izuku had time to process the things around him every applicant was running in front of him with the sound of Present Mic telling everyone to begin. Trying to catch up Izuku refrains from using One For All for now. While he had decent control of the power it still caused him mild discomfort if he used it too much. He would save his power for the robots. He runs behind the others, quickly losing a lot of them. Even training with Gran Torino he couldn’t keep up with a lot of examinees without using One For All.

Running around looking for a target one of the robots catches him off guard. Izuku is still, fear overcoming his whole body. Tears were running down his face, terrified for his life. He found himself unable to move. He wants to strike the one point robot, and tries to gain the strength to go after it. Even while activating One For All he find he is still unable to attack the enemy in front of him. Before he could bring himself to strike the robot down a laser is shot from another student’s torso. The blond student cockily says a thank you to Izuku for being bait before he runs off.

“If I don’t hurry I won’t get any points!” Izuku exclaims, frantic the boy runs around looking for something or anything. “If I don’t get any points I am going to fail. If I fail I am going to let everybody down… Nighteye, Gran-pa… and Dad. I… I can’t let them down!”

Finally Izuku makes it to an area where he count hear people obtaining large quantities of points. And here was Izuku who still didn’t have any. He was more scared than ever now, even more nervous. Everyone around him was doing amazingly. They were all showing off their quirks the best way they could. This included the boy who was upset about the possible mistake on the hand out and the girl who had helped him earlier. Upon arriving the ground began to shake and the buildings in the area began to fall.

A giant robot appeared: the zero point robot and it was destroying everything in its path. Chaos began and applicants started to run away in terror. Struck with fear again Izuku found himself unable to move. As the ground shakes Izuku loses his footing and falls down, sitting and looking up at the robot. People around him are still running and screaming and he was sitting there, unable to move.

Hearing Present Mic’s voice boom across all the screams the hero announces there are only two minutes and Izuku grows terrified. How would he gain enough points to pass in only two minutes? He was so afraid of letting everyone down the same doubt he had in the morning had returned. He wanted to cry. Almost going to run he hears a cry for help from behind him.

It was the girl from before. She had her leg stuck under some rubble and was unable to free herself. She cried for help, calling out for anybody who was nearby. Her leg was crushed under rubble, she wasn’t able to move at all; and if she didn’t move she was going to be crushed.

Without thinking Izuku shoots up running towards the robot. Using One For All he jumps up to the height of the _head_ of the robot. Forgetting to hold back Izuku throws a punch at the robot yelling “smash” at the top of his lungs. This was the most power he had ever used in using One For All. The robot is propelled backward and falls to the ground. The _head_ is destroyed and the body soon follows.  

Present Mic shouts there is only one minute left before Izuku starts falling. Having never used that much of One For All his body was screaming in pain. His arm was flailing in the wind as he fell. Izuku starts to panic, his legs while not broken were unbelievably sore. Gran Torino had made him do intense jumps in the past, but never anything like this. Izuku assumed he sprained or dislocated something in his legs.

Not wanting to land face first into the concrete Izuku tries to think of something, he still needed to get some points. While the take down of that giant robot was impressive the robot wasn’t worth any points. Quickly he was trying to think of ways he could get himself out of this current situation while in the condition he was in. All he could think to do was a Detroit smash to keep him from completely falling on his face and dying. Preparing a punch with his left arm he begins to calculate how to time this, remembering his training with Nighteye. Before he can fully activate One For All in his left arm he was slapped across the face by the girl he had just saved.

She had floated up to meet him in the air and his falling had almost immediately stopped with a little slow down before he completely stopped. “Release!” the tired girl let the two of them fall to the ground, Izuku not getting hurt at the height he was now at. Though he remained on the ground, not having the strength in his legs to move forward. Looking at the girl who was now puking on a giant robot part he was happy he was able to save her and she didn’t look too hurt despite now throwing up. He assumed it was from exerting herself and using her quirk too much.

Time was coming to a close and Izuku wanted to thank her and he wanted to get at least some points before the exam was over. Everyone at home was counting on him and he felt like he was letting them all down. Desperate Izuku tried to get up, but was unable to. The pain in his legs was unbelievable, he wasn’t going to be able to walk anywhere. Wanting to get any points at all he tries to pull himself forward with his left arm. Before he knew it the buzzer went off and the time was up. He hadn’t received any points. Again all he wanted to do was cry, this was his dream and he blew it. The boy sees the figure of a small woman approaching him before passing out on the ground.

The boy wakes up in the nurse’s office, he wasn’t sure how much time had passed. All he could tell that it was dark outside and upon further examination of the room he sees Toshinori in a chair beside the bed. The man looked so worn out, more than usual, and a worried expression was on his face. The dark circles under his eyes were darker than ever and the age lines more prominent than usual. Izuku had never been hurt this badly due to One For All. This was new to both of them.

“Dad?” Izuku weakly asks, slowly sitting up. He wasn’t in a lot of pain anymore but he felt completely drained.

“You really need to be more careful!” Recovery Girl exclaimed, not giving anybody in the room time to speak so she could lecture the child. “You are lucky you didn’t fall on your face! You practically owe your life to that girl!” Izuku felt a little shame, but he felt himself looking at his father.

“Dad, what are you doing here?” Izuku asked, almost ignoring Recovery girl. He wanted to cry seeing him, how could he face his father? He was sure he had failed the entrance exam, he hadn’t gotten any points.

“Oh- Recovery Girl called me so I rushed over,” Toshinori exclaimed, not technically lying. Not only had Recovery Girl call him down but he had seen what Izuku had done. He had been sitting by Izuku’s bed, getting an earful of his own while his son recovered. While he was worried about his son’s current state he couldn’t be prouder about what he had done for that girl.

“Well he’ll be fine but he needs better control of his power, All Might!” Recovery Girl exclaimed.

“H-Hey hey hey! Keep it down, will you? Do you want everyone around to hear you?” Toshinori exclaimed, his face turning red as blood pooled out of his mouth.

“Yeah yeah,” Recovery Girl huffed, speaking quietly now. “One would think you would train your son better after receiving your power.”

“S-she knows?” Izuku exclaimed. Not only did another adult know his father was All Might but she knew about One For All as well. Not many adults in his life knew both of these things.

“Yes, she is one of the few people who know our secret,” Toshinori confirmed. “Don’t worry.”

“Well Izuku, you will recover well just please rest when you get home,” Recovery Girl informed. She looks to Toshinori now, “Make sure he does rest, okay? I remember what you were like at his age, a handful. And if he is anything like you-”

“Yes, Ma’am, thank you very much,” Toshinori laughed awkwardly and interrupting the nurse. He helps Izuku up, his legs not broken but a little sore. Able to walk Izuku walks alongside his father, leaving the school.

Toshinori wanted to tell his son he had passed but decided he should wait until Izuku received the message he had recorded officially for the school for him to find out. He didn’t know the school’s policy, and he knew the school knew Izuku was his son; so he wasn’t sure if they expected him to keep quiet or if they thought he’d tell him the minute he got the chance to. Either way, he’d already recoded the message for his son, might as well the prerecording of himself tell Izuku. Just as all of the other kids would find out.

The two make their way home, Toshinori could tell Izuku was sad about not getting any points and didn’t know how the exam was truly scored. Izuku seemed so devastated, he was so distant. Even when they got home he was the same. Neither Inko or Toshinori knew what to say to Izuku.

Any time Toshinori went by Izuku the boy seemed to walk the other way, ashamed of himself. Izuku didn’t know how he could face his father after all the time he had spent training him, he was sure he had failed the test.

Doing as Recovery girl had told him to do Izuku rested at home. To be fair he didn’t have the motivation to do much of anything, not even eat. He sat on the couch most of the time, watching the television while staring off into space. What else was the boy to do? He felt as though any hope of becoming a hero were gone. He found himself crying at night, waiting for the official rejection from the school. It’s all he wanted, for things to be official. He wished he could have some hope about getting in, but he couldn’t find any.

Toshinori tried inspiring hope in Izuku, to tell him to not give up hope; but Izuku would always retaliate with how he got zero points on the exam and any thought of passing was improbable. The light was gone within the boy and it crushed Toshinori’s heart, he had never seen Izuku look like this.

Finally the day came when Izuku’s test results came in the mail. Inko gave the letter to her son, letting him go into his room to read it. Toshinori and Inko stood outside his door, knowing the results but awaiting their son’s reaction. Izuku didn’t even know his father was teaching at the school that was going to be a surprise in itself.

A scream was let out from the boy making the two adults chuckle a little. Before they knew it Izuku had burst out of his room. His cheeks were stained with tears and a smile was on his face. Almost every other breath he was sniffling back tears, he was so happy he was almost unable to speak. Almost.

“D-Dad? You’re a teacher at Yuuei?” Izuku exclaimed, wiping tears off his cheeks. “And I got accepted! Y-you knew! You knew and you never told me!”

“Yeah, sorry,” Toshinori laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I figured the school didn’t want me to say anything so I kept my mouth shut. Sorry, I know how much it hurt you. But-”

“I-It’s okay!” Izuku cried, hugging his parents. He was so happy. Never in a million years did he think after taking the test did he think he would get accepted. He had abandoned the thought of attending his father’s Alma Matter, but now his dream was becoming true.

“I’m so happy and so proud of you, Sweetie,” Inko said, smiling. She kisses her son’s cheek, happy for him. This was the happiest the family had seemed to be in a long time. Maybe since Toshinori’s accident. The boy was filled with a new determination that only rivalled the day he received One For All. But for whatever reason, this felt better than that.

“You’re going to be a hero!” Toshinori exclaimed, transforming into his All Might form. He picks his son up and hugs him tightly. Everyone was so proud of Izuku, he got in off his morals. He got in because of his morals, because of who he was. This was the start of Izuku Yagi’s journey to becoming a hero.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this is the end! Don't worry I have more for this series planned. This was just to set up the changes to the universe. Izuku could have easily gotten in with more points but I wanted to keep his reasoning for getting in the same, because of his rescue points.   
> Thanks everyone for reading, giving kudos, commenting, bookmarking and everything else! Thanks for all the support on this story and AU! I appreciate all of it!


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